The Pain Would Come
by vampyr-eternal
Summary: When Sarah ends up in a coma after being attacked her soul ends up in the Labyrinth, will Jareth's offer prove too tempting this time, has she even got a life to go back to…
1. Introduction

_When Sarah ends up in a coma after being attacked her soul ends up in the Labyrinth, will Jareth's offer prove too tempting this time, has she even got a life to go back to…_

_[EDIT] I've completely re-written this story. It's the same story but I began writing it over five years ago and my writing has changed dramatically over that time, so the style of this story is nothing compared to that of the final part of the trilogy. I wanted to even things out and there's a few things I wasn't happy with so here's the new version of the same story._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth, you know the drill. I do however own Samael and Devon and all the songs/poetry._

The pain would come.

She knew this instinctively as her mind slowly swam back to consciousness. She felt no pain now, her body, her mind, were numb, but it would come, it had to.

Slowly she felt the memories return, she didn't want them, she fought them, but she had no choice. She knew what had happened, she could see it all, but she could feel nothing, not yet. She tried to hold them back, but still the memories came. She could see the men forcing her against the wall, saw them beat her, she knew it was her, she could see her black leather trousers, the velvet sleeves of her corset as her arms and legs punched and kicked anything they could get in contact with in a desperate effort to get free, she knew it was hopeless, even as she'd done it. She'd had no choice though, she had to fight. She could still remember the desperation in her actions, the sheer terror driving her as she fought against them to no avail, fighting until her body gave out in agony, her mind closed in terror, and blessed unconsciousness stole over her.

She could see it all, but she couldn't feel anything. Her semi-conscious mind kept everything at bay for the moment, but the pain would come, she knew it would, just not yet.


	2. Conscious confusion

**2 Conscious Confusion**

Eventually she could put it off no longer, her mind screamed to be free. She'd hidden in the oblivion of sleep for too long, it was time to wake up. She knew it and feared it, but it was inevitable. Her body was aching slightly and as he opened her eyes she steeled herself for the pain that would follow, but her mind was instantly consumed by the scene laid out before her. In her stupor she had imagined a hospital, a white pristine room filled with complex machines, all designed to keep her alive and coax her back to health. An uncomfortable bed with starched sheets, nurses and doctors milling about doing this test, taking that reading. At the very least she expected to still be on the stairs up to the car park where she'd been attacked. That small, square stairway, whose empty, security devoid space had provided a perfect place for an inconspicuous and uninterrupted attack. Yet her eyes saw none of this, and blinking to make sure she was really seeing what her eyes told her she was seeing, she stood up in shock.

It was only as she registered the aching in her limbs from being laid on hard ground that she realised her injury's had disappeared. Looking down at her body she saw her clothes had a slight layer of dust from laying on the ground, but other than that, she was perfect. No blood, not broken bones, no cuts, no pain, nothing. Her immediate thought was that she was dreaming, but she knew instinctively that she was not. She was awake, she was alive, and she was in the last place she could ever have imagined.

As she looked down the hill towards the gates of the Labyrinth, the place that had haunted her dreams since she was fifteen, the place she'd tried so hard to convince herself did not exist, she was flooded with the memories of what had happened to her in this very place five years ago. Her head swam with the realisation that it was all real, it had all happened. She had wished Toby away, Jareth had come to take him, she had run the Labyrinth and she had beaten Jareth to win Toby back. It was real, it existed, and she was back here, but this time she had no idea why. She hadn't wished anyone away, she had no reason to be here. By all rights she should be dead…

At that thought Sarah stopped her thoughts in shock. She was right, she shouldn't have survived what she had been through. This made no sense.

Suddenly a feeling of uncontrollable weakness passed over her. He body lost all control and she fell to her knees, unable to support herself any longer. It lasted for only a few seconds but those seconds seemed to last a lifetime. When it was over Sarah found she was leaning up against a tree and only then did she realise she was standing at the exact place she had begun her first journey here, at the top of the hill overlooking the Labyrinth. She looked into the trees branches, expecting to see the thirteen-hour clock starting her countdown, but this time there was nothing, just autumn bare branches swaying in the slight breeze.

Finally, feeling her strength returning, she used the tree to hoist herself to her feet before looking back to the Labyrinth. She could clearly see the castle at the centre, and more confusion swept over her. What was she doing here? She couldn't even answer that basic question, but she knew what she had to do. There was no other choice. As much as it scared her, she felt her heart race with anticipation. She'd been through an ordeal the last time she was here, terrified of losing Toby, but this time she had nothing to lose, and a strange feeling began to creep over her. A feeling of peace, of contentment, a sense that for the first time in five years, she was home…


	3. Home?

**3 Home**

Home? Where had that thought come from? This wasn't home, this was the labyrinth, home was with your family, with people who love you, a place you feel safe. That was home. Home was… Suddenly she didn't know anymore. She'd always assumed her house was her home, but that wasn't entirely true anymore. Her stepmother had been making subtle hints about Sarah moving out ever since she'd turned eighteen. She'd never pushed it though, Sarah was too convenient a babysitter for that. Not that Sarah minded anymore, ever since her first experience in the labyrinth, she and Toby had been extremely close, they shared a bond stronger than the normal bond of brother and sister. They'd been through a lot together and even though she wasn't sure Toby remembered any of it, he knew there was something special about their relationship.

He'd scared the hell out of her when he was four. She hadn't mentioned the Labyrinth to him, or indeed to anyone since she'd left it behind. She'd hidden the book away behind her vanity desk where no one would see it, put away all the toys that reminded her of her experience there, and had not said a single word about it after the night of the party with her friends. Then suddenly Toby asked her to tell him about the Labyrinth one weekend when she was looking after him. She was so shocked she'd dropped the bowl of popcorn she'd been carrying into the sitting room and had to spend the next ten minutes extracting the popcorn from beneath various bits of furniture. That hadn't stopped him wanting the story though. After he'd eventually stopped laughing at her he'd asked for it again and reluctantly she began to tell him. Just repeating the story brought back memories for her, memories she'd prefer to have kept hidden, but she could never refuse Toby. After that it became a weekly ritual. Every weekend when he went to bed she'd tell him their story of the Labyrinth, and every so often he shocked her by adding little details of his own. For instance she never mentioned the chickens running about the castle, but when she began to sing Magic Dance to him he'd mention the one goblin that always held a chicken. She still didn't know to this day how much of their experience he remembered, or whether he believed any of it. Nevertheless, every weekend she'd have to tell Toby the story again. He was seven now, but he still loved it.

One weekend her father and Karen had come home early from their night out, they'd been arguing once again and after Karen had stormed into her room, Sarah's father had come into Toby's room to find Sarah telling him the story of the Labyrinth. Her father had yelled at her to stop telling him such useless drivel, stating that he was far too old for that now and then he'd stormed off to the guest room, a place he regularly began to spend the night.

Things had been growing steadily worse between her father and Karen for the past three years. At first they were just little disagreements, but the situation had deteriorated rapidly. By now the arguments were an everyday occurrence. Her father spent more and more time in his office, most days he'd set off early and not come back until late, often incredibly drunk, going straight to bed the second he walked through the door. Sarah and Toby hardly saw him, and they both missed him incredibly. Karen relieved her stress by shopping every day. Sarah knew this was one of the reasons her father was working so much, not only was he avoiding the arguments, but he was also having to do a lot of overtime in order to pay for her shopping habit.

As time went on her father got more and more distant, nowadays he didn't even resemble the person he used to be, and Karen snapped at Sarah every chance she got. There were times that Sarah seriously considered moving out, but she couldn't leave Toby alone there. She stayed for his sake, but it wasn't without a price. With a father rapidly turning into an alcoholic and a stepmother who hated her, Sarah's mood darkened as her spirit was constantly depressed by her surroundings. She dropped out of college at 19 and got a job in the hopes of easing her father's monetary worries, but found herself stuck in a job she hated. She developed insomnia and lost her appetite as her own worries mounted up. Worries for Toby as well as herself. Her family life was falling apart and more than once she came home to find her father and Karen at each other's throats whilst Toby sat crying in his room. She'd comfort him the best she could, but with a father turning into an alcoholic and a mother who rarely paid him any attention, a sister was a poor substitute. It was at those times that she was grateful for her experience in the Labyrinth. As hard as it had been, without it, Toby would have been alone, and she would never have forgiven herself for that.

As it was, Sarah took her own comfort in music, turning to metal as an outlet whenever she could. That's what had led to her eventual attack. After visiting her local alternative club she'd left alone to drive back home. She never drank, he father was enough to put her off forever, and it was as she was walking up the stairs to the car park the two men had burst in behind her and thrown her to the floor. So now she was here.

She realised she'd been right about this place being home. The place where she lived, all she had there that was good was Toby, the rest was a nightmare. But here there were people who cared about her, who accepted her, true friends. There was no pain, only curiosity and that strange sense of belonging.

As the questions began to enter her mind once more, she steeled herself against what was to come, the "dangers untold and hardships unnumbered", and taking a deep breath she took her first step down the hill towards the Labyrinth and the mysteries that lay within.


	4. The door

**4 The Door**

As she reached the bottom of the hill Sarah saw another familiar sight, sadly lacking in one detail. It was the pond near the edge of the labyrinth still with the strange watering can and trowel at its edge. But there was no Hoggle. The memory of their first meeting still made her blush even now, yet even though she could see the faeries flitting in and out of the rushes, there was no sign of Hoggle. She knew the last time she'd been here he'd been sent to wait for her, so she was hurt and confused that he wasn't here. Why wasn't he here, didn't he know she'd come back, and if Hoggle didn't, did Jareth? That was a stupid question, if Jareth hadn't brought her, how the hell had she got here? Of course he knew she was here, but then where was he? Why was she stood outside the Labyrinth?

As before there were no answers so she was simply left to walk around the wall looking for the door, which presented another problem, without Hoggle, how did she open the door? Finding it was the easy part, her memories guided her to it sure enough, but how to get in? After ten minutes of futile pushing and pulling trying to gain entry to what had become an impenetrable fortress, she finally stood back to take a good look at the door. She decided the only logical course of action would be to climb over the wall itself, there were enough vines and holes in the wall to make it easy enough and she'd run out of other ideas. Within minutes she had hoisted herself up one side, over the top and down the other. Pleased with herself, Sarah turned around expecting to see a familiar dank and dreary corridor, instead she found herself once again on the outside of the labyrinth. She knew she'd climbed over the wall, but there was no denying it, she had not managed to get into the labyrinth. Frustrated she went back to the door and began to push again, but no matter how hard she pushed, the door would not open. Finally, exasperated, she shouted "Why won't you open damn it!" Instantly the huge doors swung outward.

Stunned, she simply stared at the now open doors for a while, trying to figure out what she'd done. After regaining her wits she said "Close." And the doors closed. Confused and worried the doors might not open again she said "Open" and immediately the doors swung open. She quickly hurried into the labyrinth only to have the doors slam shut behind her. Her mind didn't know what to make of this, did she have power over the labyrinth, could she control it? If so…

Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and said "I wish to be at the castle in the centre of the labyrinth… right now". Slowly she opened her eyes but was once again faced with the damp black walls of the entrance to the labyrinth. Realising that whatever power she had over the door she clearly didn't have over the rest of the labyrinth, Sarah set off walking, retracing her footsteps from five years ago, once again making that journey that could take her anywhere.


	5. The worm

**5 The Worm**

As she began walking her mind was assaulted with memories of her last visit, of the pain she had suffered there. The anger, the turmoil, the infinite worry over Toby, five years was not long enough to rid her of those feelings, it wasn't even long enough for them to fade. The thing that surprised her though, was that she felt none of that now. All she felt was peace, a strange calm, as though someone had dropped a shield around her to protect her from the pain, because the pain was still there. She could feel it, like a soft pressure surrounding her heart, as though it was trying to get in, and she knew if it did she'd shut down. But it wasn't time to deal with the pain yet, that time would come. At the moment something was keeping the pain at bay, and it allowed her to focus on the task ahead.

Worried that she might miss the one and only turn she knew out of this dreaded corridor of damp, lichen covered stone, she walked instead of ran, praying the worm was still in that little nook where she'd found him before. It was, in fact, only a few minutes later that she spotted the familiar tuft of blue hair sticking out behind a slight ledge in the rock. Thankful she had finally found a familiar face she ran the last few steps towards him. As she reached him Sarah sank to her knees and the look of surprise on the worm's face at seeing her must have mirrored her shock at finding herself in the labyrinth again. In fact it took a few minutes for him to regain his senses enough to utter his usual "Allo"

"Hello Worm!"

"Well this is a surprise, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not exactly sure of that myself." Sarah said, musing on how best to explain.

"Hmm, a mystery, well come inside and have a cup of tea. I'm sure the missus will know!"

"Once again I'm going to have turn down the offer of tea I'm afraid. I really need to find out why I'm here." She hesitated before continuing. "I need to find Jareth, which is why I have to run the Labyrinth again. Who knows, maybe when this is over I'll have time to take you up on that offer of tea."

"I do hope so, well good luck."

"Thank you, it was good seeing you again."

With that Sarah stood up and walked towards the wall that held the hidden opening, and as before it was as though the wall suddenly moved back a few feet revealing two openings. It was only as she turned to go right a thought struck her. Turning back to the worm she asked:

"Just out of curiosity, why can't I go the other way?"

"Well that way leads straight to that castle, and you don't want to go there."

"Straight to the castle?" Sarah asked, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You never asked."

"Yes I did." Sarah said, not knowing whether to be angry or amused. "I asked you if you knew how to get to the castle, and you said no!"

"No, you asked if I knew how to solve the labyrinth, I thought you meant how to get through the maze, if I'd have known you wanted the castle I'd have told you."

"Well where did you think I wanted to go?" Now she was laughing. "Where else would I be going to in order to solve the Labyrinth?"

"Well I erm, I don't know." The worm said, stumbling on his words. "You know I hadn't had any tea that morning, maybe that was it."

Laughing at the slightly confused look upon the worms face Sarah simply turned back to the opening. She started to go left but after one step stopped. Did she really want to go straight to the castle? Was she ready to see Jareth again, and what about her friends, where were they? Surely she should see them first, after all they meant more to her than Jareth did, didn't they?

Bombarded with even more questions she did the only thing she could have done, she turned right. She wasn't ready yet, not for that trial, first she needed her friends, after that, well only time will tell.


	6. Confused cards

**6 Confused cards**

Immediately she found herself in the stone part of the beginning of the labyrinth and started to vaguely follow the path she had taken before. Vaguely because she couldn't remember her exact route, but she felt she was going in the right direction at least, the only thing that worried her was the fact she couldn't find any of her old marks. She knew they'd been changed somehow, but didn't think they'd disappeared completely. Eventually though she found her last mark, the one that had been turned around, and from that arrow she retraced her steps to find the stone she had put the previous mark on.

Bending down to take a closer look and the one she thought was right, she noticed the edges were quite worn, even more so than the rest of the path. She managed to get her fingers in the gaps between the stones and gradually prised the stone up to reveal a hole beneath it, a hole that was quickly filled by the faces of two tiny, extremely angry goblins. Not even bothering to climb out of the hole the first one started shaking his fist at her and shouting in a slightly high pitched voice.

"Ey you, what you think you doing, prying open me door, you got no respect, now you put that back before I, before I… Wait a minute, I know you, I know, you the one who wrote on the friggin walka walka, what you do that for, took me ages to clean off, Jareth no like mess, course we ad to leave the last one, don know why, but he said, so we did, but the others, they took ages, you got no respect woman? Writing on people's roofs an all, your mother really must be a friggin aardvark, not knowing right nor wrong, now you go now, leave, go on, shoo, we don want your kind here, putting arrows on the walka walka, opening people's houses, no respect, that your problem that is…"

And mumbling as he did, he dragged the stone back in place, leaving Sarah to stare at the floor in stunned silence. Well at least she knew what had happened to her marks now, although it didn't explain the last one which she gathered Jareth had told them to leave, why would he do that? Did he know one day she'd be back, did he leave it as a guide? None of this made sense, so once again, resigning herself to the fact she would get no answers anytime soon, she headed back to where she had first met the card guards. She was surprised to find them already there, last time she'd been here it had been a dead end the first time she entered, but there they were, stood as though waiting for her. In fact as soon as she turned the corner the bottom red one spoke, his Scottish accent surprising her again,

"Well hello, it's been a while, I heard it turned out quite well last time, even though _they_ did lead ye in the wrong direction, they can barely remember which one o' them lies and which tells the truth, then ye go and confuse them by asking them riddles. What he meant to say was no, but I guess ye know that now, clever though, your question, but saying down to the Helping Hands, now that was a wee bit silly, still ye got there eventually, but why are ye back? Surely you didn't wish that wee Toby away again did ye?" he said.

Giggling a little at the comic expression on his face Sarah replied,

"No not this time, something happened above ground and I woke up here, I don't suppose you know why do you?

"Me? Oh no, we only got told a few minutes ago ye'd arrived, but we didn't get a reason."

"You mean you spoke to Jareth?"

"Oh, aye, he didn't say much though, just said ye were coming and this time we should forget about the truth and lies thing, after all the imbeciles up there can't get it right."

"Hey, we're not that bad, I mean, well, she did ask a complicated question, and how are we supposed to know things like that?" The top Red Guard asked. "He just told me to lie, he never said nothing about saying what the other one would say, I mean if she wanted to know what he would say why ask me, she should have just asked him." He said indicating the top blue guard.

"But that's the point," said the bottom blue guard, "it's a riddle, if she asked him she wouldn't know if he was lying or not, by asking ye about him she puts both lies and truth into the equation getting the correct answer, or she would if ye had any kind of brain."

"Hey, but, I mean, well…"

"Well nothing, look we've been over it, ye'll never get it, now lets just help Sarah, and then we'll go over it again, I don't know, maybe it's a gravity thing, the brain falls to the bottom guard, if we turn ye upside down ye might understand it." Said the bottom red guard.

"More likely they'd just fall over." Replied the bottom blue guard. "Now I'm guessing this time ye want to try the other door?"

Smiling, Sarah answered,

"Yes, but the door I entered last time, if I'd have said up where would I have gone?"

"Ye'd have taken three steps and ended up in another oubliette, the whole corridors full of them, there's no way out of them down that one."

"The other door it is then." Sarah said, feeling more optimistic than she had in a long time. "Thanks for your help, it's nice to see friendly faces again, at least I know you're not working against me this time."

"Well how could we not be friendly to such a wee pretty girl such as ye, now red ye move aside so she can go through, she's got a long way to go, and I imagine she's eager to get started."

Smiling, Sarah went through the door after the Red Guard had moved aside, thanking the guards for their kindness once more. There was something so soothing about her trip through the Labyrinth this time. Without the worry of losing her brother she was able to truly appreciate the beauty of her surroundings and the amazing creatures that lived here. She could feel the cares of her world falling away and so it was on happy feet that she walked down a corridor identical to the one through the other door. This time, however, she got through it without falling down any holes.

As she reached the end of the corridor she found a corner and going round it was met with the most magnificent of sights. Stretching out as far as she could see was an enormous ocean. As she stepped out of the corridor her feet sank into sand and she couldn't help sitting down to remove her shoes, giddy with a childish joy she hadn't felt in a long time. There was something incredibly therapeutic about a warm beach. It was only as she stood back up that another wave of complete exhaustion swept over her. She fell to her knees unable to support herself and for a while it seemed as though she couldn't breathe, she lost all sense of her surroundings, all she could focus on was the pain inside her that seemed to be taking over her body. It was as though she was no longer in the labyrinth, no longer anywhere, she was contained by the pain shooting through her and for just an instant she could see a faint blurred vision of a man bent over her, but at that point the pain increased to such an intensity all she could do was scream as she finally collapsed on her back unconscious.


	7. Awakening

**7 Awakening**

As she awoke the first thing she noticed was that she was back on the beach, and that the pain had entirely disappeared. She stood up and wiped herself off, bent down to pick up her boots and then took another look around. As she did so she remembered the vague vision of the man bending over her. She could hardly remember him now, but one thing was for sure, she had never seen him before in her life. It wasn't Jareth, of that she was certain, and she felt a wave of sorrow pass over at realisation that she still hadn't seen him.

She'd been here for hours now, she wasn't sure exactly how long, she had no watch, and what vague sense of time she'd had was now gone due to her stint of unconsciousness. It was still sunlight, but that meant nothing, in the labyrinth, time worked differently here, as did the weather and things she normally took for granted such as normal hours of sunlight. One good thing that had come out of her first visit to the labyrinth was that she had begun to appreciate everything more, stop taking things for granted. Take Toby for instance, every day she would look at him and there would be a slight twinge of pain as she realised she'd nearly lost him, but that would instantly be followed by such a sense of love that she knew she'd never lose it, she'd never lose him.

But he'd lost her.

If she was here, she couldn't be in his world, but then again she'd had that vision of the man, he wasn't here, he wasn't in the labyrinth, so maybe she wasn't either. What if she was in the hospital, her body anyway, what must Toby be going through? She couldn't even imagine what she must look like if her body was aboveground, she didn't know what they'd done to her after she'd passed out, who knows what injuries she'd sustained. She couldn't bear to think of what Toby must be going through right now, she'd either disappeared, or she was in hospital unconscious, or she was dead. What scared her more than the thought she might be dead, was the fact she didn't really know, she had no idea what was going on, so once again she was back to her search for answers.

As she looked around her she saw that the bit of beach she was stood on wasn't very long, but it was incredibly wide, it seemed to stretch on forever in either direction, covered with huge shells which were scattered everywhere. She'd never seen such a variety of shells, or in so many different colours. Just to the side of her foot was a shell about 5cm wide with a spire about 7cm tall and it was the most beautiful lilac colour. She bent down to pick it up and as she did so it stood up and started running around, as did all the others. It was only then did she notice that instead of the normal shell creatures she expected to see, each shell was inhabited by a tiny goblin, and they were all running around in random directions. For a couple of minutes she watched their strange little dance in fascination and then as suddenly as they'd started, they stopped and all crouched down still. As Sarah glanced around she realised that they'd left a path open in the sand in front of her free of any shells, that led down to the water.

Looking down in amazement she saw a tiny head poking out from under one of the shells, but as she bent down it disappeared and nothing she tried could prise that creature out of the sand. Sighing she stood back up and looked towards the water and deciding there was no other sensible course of action she began walking down the newly cleared path towards it.

When she reached the waters edge she could see the path that had been made by the shells continued under the water as a clear path through the seaweed that covered the rest of the seabed. She glanced around at the beach once more, then deciding this was the only sensible course of action, she threw all she took for granted aside and walked into the water.


	8. Caracea

**8 Caracea**

As her head descended under the waves Sarah instinctively held her breath, but almost instantly she let it out and attempted to breathe. Under any other circumstances it would have been a stupid move, but this was the Labyrinth, normal rules did not apply here and as she knew she would, Sarah had no problem breathing underwater.

Sarah carried on walking down the path, amazed at the creatures that were swimming around her. Some of them she recognised, seahorses, rainbow fish, turtles, crabs, but some were completely new to her. She saw a creature walking along the seabed beside her, it had about ten pairs of lobes on which it was walking, but then it had the same number of spikes sticking out of its back, and its head and tail pointed down towards the sand. Another was about a meter in length, and almost as wide, but it was completely flat, with patterns along its body resembling ribs going right from the head to its tail.

As she walked forward studying these creatures with fascination she suddenly realised her feet were no longer immersed in water. Looking down it was unclear what had happened but as she continued to walk forward she suddenly emerged into an enormous air pocket underneath the sea. Stunned she looked up and she could still see the water above her head and reaching up could put her hand into it, causing barely a ripple when he skin entered the water. Confused, but not entirely surprised, she decided the only plan of action was to continue forward. It was only as she looked further along the path that she discovered a small village stood at the bottom of the incline on which she stood. It reminded her slightly of the goblin city surrounding the castle at the centre of the labyrinth, houses built in seemingly no order but instead scattered all over the place. The houses were made of stone, although they looked decidedly more run down and like they were about to collapse. In fact the whole place had a feeling of abandonment about it, and yet there were creatures everywhere. On closer inspection she realised that although a lot of them had shells on their back, or had tails like seahorses, they were all in fact goblins. Amused she set off walking towards this village and just as she approached the first house she heard a sound that truly filled her heart with warmth for the first time in a very long while.

"Yea verily, I do believe we should start with this one."

"Sir Didymus" Sarah whispered breathlessly before rushing around the corner of a house towards where the voice had come from. It was only as she turned the corner and saw Sir Didymus stood there that she felt the first stirrings of guilt and apprehension. It had been a long time, a very long time, since she had last had any contact with anyone from the labyrinth, would they feel any animosity for her because of it. For a while they'd tried to contact her, but she had ignored their calls, and now she was back. Would they understand why she'd had to do it, would they forgive her? She didn't have very long to think about this however as just at that moment Didymus spotted her.

"Why my Lady, what are you doing here? Oh forgive me my rude tongue, I am simply surprised by your presence. How does thee?"

"I am well Didymus, I think, I'm not quite sure, but I'm glad to finally find a friend here, I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

"Avoiding you, no, I was merely unaware of your return to the labyrinth. Why would you think I would be avoiding you fair maiden?"

"Well I haven't contacted you in so long, and I know you tried to contact me on more than one occasion, and I'm sorry for not answering, it's just…"

"There is no need to explain Sarah, you no longer needed us, I understand that, and of course a knight such as myself would never hold a grudge, I am always here for you."

"No Didymus it wasn't that. I did need you, more than I could understand. But I felt torn. I was living Aboveground, but my heart was here, with you, and Hoggle, and Ludo and Ja… well my heart was trying to live in two places and it was too much. I love you, all of you, but I had to live up there, with my family, and it was too tough to try and pretend that part of me didn't belong down here with you, my friends. I was trapped between two worlds and it was killing me, I had to sever the link with one of them, and I knew I couldn't leave Toby, so I gave you up, and I'm so sorry, I've missed you every day since I made that decision, but I felt it was something I had to do. Can you ever forgive me?"

"You need not even ask. Sarah you are loved by me as much as I am loved by you. We have all watched your life aboveground, we know the hardships you suffered there, your silence hurt, but we respected your decision. There is nothing to ask forgiveness for. I am your friend now and forever, as are Hoggle and Ludo and the one who must not be named." Sir Didymus answered a rather sly smile. "But I must know fair Lady, why do you return to us now, and why not tell us first so that we could meet you, it would have prevented you wandering into this desolate place that is Caracea."

"I'm afraid that was not my decision Didymus. Something happened Aboveground and when I woke up I was outside the labyrinth, I don't know why I am here, and once here I had no clue as to how to contact you."

"That is a dilemma I must say, I suggest we head back up to the main labyrinth and seek out Hoggle and Ludo and direct ourselves towards the castle in order to solve this ever so strange mystery and return you to your correct world shall we."

"My correct world, I wish I knew where that was." Sarah whispered.

Something in Sir Didymus' face showed he'd heard what she'd said, but he made no move to discuss it, instead he simply called out.

"DEVON, DEVON COME HERE BOY!"

"Devon?"

"Yes well by loyal steed Ambrosius turned out to be a little more coward like than a loyal steed should be. When faced with the fearsome trip beneath the waves to reach the land of Caracea he ran back into the forest and no amount of scolding nor praising could convince him that the chivalrous task of helping rebuild this desolate town was worth the trip through water. As we all know, the journey itself is harmless, but you know horses, they have an unexplainable fear of water, and so it was that I called on my trusty second in command Devon. Now where is that faithful animal? Ah here he is."

Didymus finished just as a Jaguar came running around the side of a building crouching low to dive beneath Sir Didymus, throwing him onto his back and racing off through another set of buildings and around a bend. For a while Sarah stood there speechless unable to react to the sight she had just seen. Never in her life had she seen such a beautiful, sleek, swift creature in all her life. She was still staring stunned at the place she had last seen Sir Didymus and Devon when she felt a knock between her legs that threw her upwards and looking down she saw Devon's head just as she was thrown onto his back behind Didymus by the impact. For a few seconds she sat there breathless as the powerful creature beneath her ran at a dizzying speed through the various houses, zigzagging in at out with awe-inspiring precision, only to be pitched into fits of laughter as Didymus shouted "Heigh Ho, Silver" with a flourish of his hand.

Sarah quickly realised they were heading uphill and braced herself for impact as she saw the liquid roof descend on her, but only felt a slight resistance as they shot through it and within a few seconds the trio were out of the water heading into a dense forest.


	9. Samael

**9 Samael**

Sarah could barely see where they were going, but Devon seemed to have no problem weaving in and out of the trees at high speed, until, that is, he stopped suddenly sending both Sarah and Didymus over his head onto the ground. As Sarah stood up and brushed herself off, wincing at the bruises she'd no doubt gained from being thrown from a Jaguar at full speed onto a hard mud floor, she looked at Devon with more than a little annoyance on her face. The frown soon dissolved into a smile as she saw him grooming himself with little care at the indignity he had just caused his former riders. Typical cat.

"Well." Said Sir Didymus standing up thoroughly aggravated by the whole experience. "He may be faster than Ambrosius, but his stops leave something to be desired. I apologise profusely my lady, you deserve a better steed than I can provide you with, how can I make it up to you?"

"My dear Sir Didymus you have nothing to apologise for, to be honest I quite enjoyed that little trip, but I think you're right, he must learn how to stop better. Nevertheless, I appreciate the ride."

At that moment a most astonishing sight met her eyes. One of the mergoblins she'd seen earlier in the town she now knew to be Caracea, was swimming towards her… through the air. The top of his body was that distinctive brown colour of goblins, but was without clothes. His ears were positioned towards the top of his head and resembled cats ears with their triangular shape, and both had hair growing from the tips of them. His body was unremarkable except for three warts positioned in the shape of a triangle on his chest. What was remarkable however was the fact that instead of legs he had a smooth, shiny, seahorse tail, and he was using that to swim through the air just like a seahorse would through water. For a while all Sarah could do was stare at him open mouthed. Luckily for her he was too intent on swimming towards Sir Didymus to notice her rude gaze.

When he finally reached them he seemed to be out of breath and it took him a few minutes before he could actually speak. Once he had regained his breath he began to speak.

"Sir Didymus, forgive me, I am a dunce, I am forgetful, a fool, worse than a fool, I am an idiot, I am so sorry, I…"

"Yes, yes, well spit it out"

"I received this letter a few hours ago for you but with having to collect supplies for paint, re-tile the floors of all the houses on block 3, paint the walls of the main keep and…"

"My dear boy if you do not stop dithering and give me that letter right now I shall extract it from your hand and beat you over the head with it."

"Yes, sorry, sorry, erm, here, I'm sorry for the delay, please apologise to Jareth for me Sir Didymus."

"Jareth…" Sarah whispered, the name sending a bolt of pain through her heart. Years of repressed feelings suddenly caught up on her. She didn't realise until this moment just how much she'd missed him, how much she still did miss him. For a second she wished she'd turned left back at the turning with Worm, she'd be with him now if she had. But no, she wasn't ready for that, she wasn't ready for the answers she searched for. For now, all she wanted was her friends, the rest could wait.

"Why Samael, you imbecile, the King will be furious at this delay, now give that here that I may read it." And taking the letter from Samael he began to read it aloud.

"'Dear Sir Didymus, I have grave news concerning Sarah. She has recently been attacked, the men inflicted many extremely severe injuries on her and so for her own safety I have brought her here, to the Labyrinth. However, I feel she will not be too pleased to see me, our last parting was not on the kindest terms and I fear she will not approve of my meddling in her affairs. Therefore I send you this letter in hope that you will be able to meet her at the gates to the Labyrinth and help her through the trials that lay ahead, whether she chooses to explore the Labyrinth once more, or come directly to me. I have sent similar letters to Ludo and Hoggle so you shall all be able to provide Sarah with the help she needs. I will explain everything when next we meet, please take care of Sarah until then. Yours sincerely, Jareth.' Well I must say, that is a surprise, and so explains why I was not aware of your arrival." Didymus finished, glaring at Samael as he did so.

"But it does not explain why Ludo and Hoggle were not there, if they both got letters, why are they not here?"

"Fear not fair maiden, I am sure there is an explanation for these events, you must simply trust they shall make themselves known to you in their own time."

"I suppose you're right. But why didn't Jareth just talk to you through a crystal, it would have made sure you got it on time to be able to meet me."

"That is all down to Caracea, crystals are still crystals whether they be magical or no, and of course they float, so due to Caracea's position beneath the waves, it is impossible for crystals to float through the water to it."

"Then how did you get the letter?" Sarah asked Samael.

"Well my lady, erm, well I was above the waves in the forest, I was, collecting bark and leaves and berries and flowers from which I could make pigments to paint the houses in Caracea, that was it, I remember now. And I suddenly sees this, what did you call them, crystal, yes, crystal, just floating towards me like. So I reaches out and takes a hold of it, you see, and it suddenly becomes a letter and it's addressed to sir Didymus. So I thinks, well I'd better take it straight to him, with it being from the King and all. So I head back under the waves, but then as soon as I get to Caracea, Amsaca wants the flowers for her house, and of course Soranta wanted the leaves and bark for hers and then Barno wants to know why I didn't get enough for him, and well, I gets distracted having to go collect more, then help with the painting and the tiling and the like. But then I remembers cos I see Devon here racing by with Sir Didymus and you on his back, so I swims after them as fast as I can, but he's too fast, I can only follow him through the path he makes, but eventually I finds you, and here you go, I give it to Sir Didymus."

Sarah couldn't help but giggle at this long speech and the conviction with which it was said. In fact it amused her enough for her to forgive him for the lateness of the delivery, and even prompted her to invite him to join her on her journey at which point he briefly forgot to keep his tail moving and fell to the ground in shock, making her giggles erupt into laughter only to be silenced by the disapproving look on Sir Didymus' face as he watched Samael extract himself from the ground, but she couldn't repress them completely, and soon she was chuckling again. It felt so good to be laughing, to be truly happy. It seemed so long since she had felt like this, the only time she was happy was when she was with Toby, and that seemed so far away, another time, another world.

"Why dear lady, I would be honoured, I mean, this is amazing, thank you so much, I don't know what to say…"

"Say that and no more Samael, lest the lady will think you a blithering idiot. Now my dear, shall we continue on our journey through the labyrinth?" interrupted Sir Didymus.

"Yes I think we should, there's nothing else to do here."

And with that they continued onwards through the forest, each hoping the other knew the way, all except for Devon who trailed behind with a sly look on his face, sly even for a cat.


	10. Confusion at the castle

**10 CONFUSION AT THE CASTLE**

"Sire! Sire!"

The Goblin King was shaken from his thoughts by the interuption and drew his gaze away from the crystal he had been watching intently for the last few hours. As he looked up he saw Hoggle run into the throne room, only to stumble over one of the infernal chickens that were constantly running around the place. As he fell he slid forward, landing only a few feet from where Jareth sat on his throne.

"Sire," he said, scrambling to his feet. "I received yer letter, and I went t' the gate, but Sarah's not there. What 'appened to her?"

"And why do you care Higgle? What does she matter to you?"

"Why yer majesty, Sarah's my friend."

"Your friend? Really? Well if she's such a good friend why hasn't she spoken to you in years? I know you've tried to contact her, even tried to visit her didn't you. But she wouldn't answer, and without a summons you couldn't reach Aboveground. You say she's your friend, but she obviously has no love for you, so why the concern?"

"Forgive me, but yer wrong. She is a friend, she's just been distracted lately."

"Lately, I do not call over two years, lately."

"But Sire…"

"Do not 'but sire' me! Be thankful I sent you that letter at all, if you can't make it to the gate in time to meet her that is your fault and not mine."

"Yes yer Majesty."

With a dejected look on his face Hoggle turned to leave. Watching him leave Jareth felt a sharp stab of guilt. It was not Hoggle's fault he was so angry. Sarah had chosen not to come straight to him, and could he blame her? The last time she was here she'd seen the Goblin King, a cruel, unfair enemy, but it was what she had needed at the time.

The Goblin King was a persona created to make her appreciate Toby, just as it was made to make everyone appreciate those they wished away. It was personalised to every case, but it was not meant to be pleasant, he was not meant to be a friend. Yet with Sarah it had been different. The second she had spoken those words he had known _she_ was different. Even back then she was a soul full of pain, her mother's death, he father's new marriage, her new stepbrother instilling in her feelings of being replaced, and something more. Something that struck deep within her soul, and caused pain she couldn't explain. Upon meeting her for the first time he had fallen for her, completely, his heart and soul were given to her the first time he set eyes on her, and he'd never been able to get them back. To play the villain to someone you love is hard, to make them reject you when all you want is to hold them, to tell them you love them, is soul destroying. Yet he'd done it, he'd had to, for her sake, for the sake of Toby and her father, he'd done it. It had killed him, but he'd done it.

And now she was back, and she'd rejected him. Had she seen through the mask of Goblin King before, had she seen the real Jareth, did she feel anything but hatred for him? He did not know. All he knew was that he loved her, and he'd do anything to keep her safe, that's why he'd brought her here. The second the first man had struck her, he'd felt it, felt her pain, but there was nothing he could do. Without being invoked he could not enter Aboveground, and not once during her ordeal had she even thought of him. He'd been helpless, but he could not stand by and watch her die, so he'd done the one thing he could do, he'd brought her here. Now all he could was wait, wait for her to decide what she was going to do.

"Hoggle, wait."

"Yes your majesty?"

"She's in the forest."

"The forest?

"Yes the forest, with the Firey's…"


	11. Fireys

**11 FIREYS**

As she walked through the forest Sarah began to realise how ridiculous they must look. A human, a fox riding a Jaguar and a seahorse-goblin hybrid. Still, this was the labyrinth, what did she expect? Even so the thought of it made her giggle.

"Something amuses you fair maiden?"

"Not really Sir Didymus, just thinking how we must look to others."

"Which others?"

"It doesn't matter, just random thoughts of a crazy mind."

"Oh, I see." Replied Sir Didymus with a very confused expression on his face.

Just as that moment Sarah saw a flash of red in front of her was suddenly aware they were in fact not as alone as she'd thought. It took a few seconds for her to recognise the colourful creatures dancing round her, and she couldn't keep the smile from her face as the first one came up to her and started to sing.

"When the sun goes down,

_When the sun goes down_,

And the…"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, oi, Firey's, shut it!"

It took a few minutes and one of the Firey's had to be smacked over the head with a stick, which sent his head flying and the rest of them into fits of laughter, but eventually all the Firey's had all their limbs attached and were quiet.

"Don't I know you?" asked the first Firey. "You look familiar."

"Did you take my leg for a walk last week and never gave it back?"

Asked one of the other Firey's hopping around her in a circle until the first one grabbed his one remaining leg sending the body flying forward with his momentum whilst his leg stayed in the others hand and caused the rest of them to fall about again.

"No, no, no, she's the goblin who we put back together wrong." Shouted another through his giggles.

"She's not a Goblin, she's a giant pixie!" The banter was flying back and forth rapidly now as the Firey's got more and more excited.

"Without wings?" The legless Firey asked.

"Wings? I thought they were socks!" Another Firey exclaimed, laying down on the ground, pointing at his feet that appeared to be covered in moss.

At that the first Firey grabbed the head of the last firey who had spoken, detaching it from his shoulders and put it so they were at eye level.

"Have you guys been at the magic mushrooms again?"

"No, yes, maybe, I can't remember, which mushrooms are the magic ones?"

"They'll be the ones that are magic, idiot, like we have any others."

"Oh yeah, then I guess we have." At which point the head burst into giggles again.

"I give up." He said dropping the head, which then had the body crawling round in circles trying to find it, only to collapse on the floor in laughter as soon as it had.

All through this Sarah had been trying to conceal her laughter, but the Firey's mirth was too infectious and she was soon laughing away, only to sober up when she saw the look on Sir Didymus' face, who obviously didn't find it entertaining. Still, she had to have some fun.

"But I thought you guys just wanted to have a good time?" She asked the head Firey.

"Well yeah, but this is insane, I mean look at them they can hardly stand up, how are they supposed to sing and dance if they can't stand?"

"Good point."

"Then again, it does look kinda fun. You wanna join in?"

"What? Are you kidding, just being in the Labyrinth is enough of a trip for me, I don't even want to think what it'd be like being on magic mushrooms. Anyway it's more entertaining to watch these guys." She replied once again erupting into giggles as one of the Fireys removed two of its fingers and attached them to its head like horns and began chasing another like it was a bull.

"You know what though, you still look familiar, you been here before?"

"Well yes actually I have."

"I knew it. Wait a minute. You're the girl whose head won't come off!"

At this point all the other Fireys stopped what they were doing and stared at her, which was unfortunate for one of them as it was in the middle of being thrown around a circle of Fireys in various pieces, and was dropped all at once. Immediately the hands and feet began scurrying around in random directions in an effort to find the body. Sarah almost began laughing again but the strange stares she was getting from the Fireys was enough to stop that. She was just about to say something to try to break the tense silence when she felt a sharp tug on her left ear. Glancing up sharply she saw a Firey hanging down from a tree behind her.

"Nope, still don't come off, not even an ear. You know, I'm thinking you're not a Firey, girl."

"Of course not. I'm a human."

"What's a human?"

"Ooh, ooh, I know this, I know this." Samael cried out, holding his hand up as though he were a kid in class.

"Well don't dither about it, if you know tell them." Sir Didymus said, obviously exasperated by the whole experience.

"A human, is a person, like a goblin, kind of, but a different colour, and bigger, and with more hair, on their, on their head I mean, and erm, see they don't come apart like. They're just one big thing. They're like the Goblin King. He's a human." Samael finished triumphantly.

"Jareth's human?" Sarah asked.

"Why of course." Didymus answered.

"But I thought, I mean he looks human, but I figured with him being in the Underground that he was an Underground creature."

"Well of course he is now Fae, but he has not always been Underground fair lady."

"What? You mean…"

"I'm afraid I've said too much already, you must ask him yourself, it is not up to me to tell."

"But…"

"No, dear lady I cannot say more."

"I suppose you're right."

"So if you're human," the first Firey continued, "Then why are you here? Twice?"

"Well the first time I wished my baby brother Toby away and had to run the Labyrinth, and this time, I really don't know. One minute I was Aboveground, and then I woke up here."

"A mystery, I must say." Said Sir Didymus.

"Yes, a mystery I really must solve, so once more I must leave you Fireys, although I'm rather glad I don't have to run this time, you guys really are scary when you're trying to remove someone's head."

"We meant no offence, we'd just never come across something that couldn't take things off."

"How is that possible, surely people wish people away all the time?"

"Not any longer, fair maiden." Sir Didymus answered. "Humans are less inclined to believe in the Labyrinth these days, and without faith, they cannot wish people away. And the Labyrinth is enormous, there are miles and miles of which you have no seen, you could spend years exploring with little chance of you hitting the same place more than once, so few people ever see this place."

"And yet I've managed to find it twice?"

"Well yes, that's even more of a mystery, although I feel it may have a simple explanation. You want to be here. You're friends meant a lot to you, even those you didn't get along with when you first ran the Labyrinth, they were all part of that experience, and you want to meet them again. Two years is a very long time to be away from friends, maybe your subconscious is guiding you through the Labyrinth, or the Labyrinth itself could be doing it."

"But then where is Hoggle, where's Ludo, why aren't they here?"

"That I do not know my Lady, but be assured there is an explanation, you just have to find it."

"Then I guess we'd better move on, goodbye Fireys, and I promise if I get back to Aboveground I'll have another party and invite you all, 'til then, don't lose your heads."

With that Sarah, Sir Didymus and Samael walked off with Sarah giggling to herself, it was a lame joke, she knew that, but something about the Labyrinth had put her in a good mood


	12. Hoggle

**12 HOGGLE**

It was only as she once again reached the cliff where Hoggle had given her a rope to climb up that she realised the problem with her plan. How was she supposed to carry on the path she knew without Hoggle's rope? She couldn't very well just climb the rock face, and even if she could, Sir Didymus wouldn't be able to. So what should she do? Just as she was pondering this she heard a small voice at her side say,

"Ya know there's an easier way, yer don't 'ave to climb to get round the cliff."

As soon as the voice began to speak Sarah's head shot sideways to look down at the creature she had missed like one of her own family. Suddenly such happiness shot through her she couldn't help but reach down and grab him in a huge bear hug.

"Hoggle! You're here, oh I missed you so much!"

"Why, er, thank you Sarah, I's missed you too."

"But where have you been?"

"Well when I got Jareth's crystal I were exploring the tunnels and in my haste t' find ya, well I gots lost, by the time I found my way out o' those confounding tunnels you'd already left, so I goes to Jareth, and 'e told me ya were here."

"He told you that, straight away?"

"Well he got angry first, but yeah."

"Oh, I don't suppose he mentioned why I'm here did he?"

"No Sarah, and I aint asked, I just wanted to see ya, and, well I er, I figured you'd know."

"Yeah you'd think so, well at least you're here, now if we could just find Ludo…"

"Wait, I know where 'e is." Hoggle stated proudly, glad to actually be of help.

"Really, where?"

"The bog of eternal stench."

"The what? But he hated that place, we all did! Why would he go back there?"

"You'll see."

Sarah couldn't help but smile at the mischievous look on Hoggle's face, which was clearly mirrored on Sir Didymus' but she could tell she wasn't going to get any answers she simply said.

"Well, lead on my friend, and let's solve this mystery once and for all."


	13. Beauty

**13 BEAUTY**

Instead of having to climb up the cliff, this time Hoggle simply turned left and led them it. They'd only gone about a hundred meters when Hoggle suddenly disappeared. Literally. One minute he was walking a few steps in front of Sarah, the next he'd turned right and was gone. For a few seconds Sarah, Sir Didymus, Samael and the entire Firey gang stopped and stared. Sarah didn't know why the Firey gang had followed her, but they had. One of them was constantly pulling at Sarah's hair. He seemed fascinated that although no body parts could come off, her hair could come out, one strand at a time. Unfortunately he hadn't yet figured out you couldn't put them back, much to Sarah's annoyance. One minute he was repeatedly plucking hairs out of her scalp, the next he was prodding her in the head trying to put them back in, and no matter what Sarah did he would not stop. Even when everyone stopped moving due to Hoggle's mysterious vanishing act, he carried on with his torment. Meanwhile, the others stood trying to figure out where Hoggle had gone, only to stand there open mouthed when they saw his head, but not the rest of his body appear out of the cliff wall.

"Well, are you coming or aint ya?"

Seeing Hoggle's head floating out of a rock was weird enough, but to have him speak was enough to make the Firey's run for cover, much to Sarah's relief. Sarah opened her mouth to ask how Hoggle was doing that, only to shut it instantly, realising what a stupid question that was in the Labyrinth. Instead she watched the head disappear and then just followed it through the cliff wall, only to bang her head as she realised the invisible opening wasn't quite tall enough for her to walk through standing up.

Bending down slightly she tried again and this time found herself in a small tunnel, it was only about a metre wide and the walls around her were made of rough stone, as though it had been crudely carved out of the cliff, "_which it probably has" _Sarah thought. She looked ahead but she couldn't see the end of the tunnel, instead, after looking back to check that Sir Didymus, Devon and Samael had both followed her, she set off following Hoggle down the tunnel.

After a few minutes of walking she saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel. It brought to mind some morbid thoughts, but Sarah dismissed them as soon as they entered her head, this was not the time. Instead she continued down the tunnel, watching the light come closer until suddenly she reached the end of the tunnel and the sight that met her eyes took her breath away. The tunnel opened out into an enormous cavern, the bottom of which was filled with a massive lake but for a moment she couldn't look at the cave, all she could do was stare at the ceiling. Above her head were thousands upon thousands of what looked like giant stalactites. The entire roof of the cavern was covered in them, some of them were the size you'd normally expect to see, but there were hundreds that were colossal. She could see many that were at least fifty feet long, and about six feet wide at the top where they were suspended from the ceiling. But it was not just their sheer size that amazed and awed Sarah, each one seemed to be shining with an ethereal light, as though a thousand spirits were trapped in them each casting it's own unearthly glow. There seemed to be no explanation for the source of this light, and for a while all Sarah could do was stare in wonder at them, unable to move or speak due to the sheer beauty of what she beheld. It was only as she felt a slight nip at her leg which made her give an involuntary yelp of pain that she realised she'd completely phased out for a while. Looking down she saw Devon with his mouth dangerously close to her leg and she saw blood running down her leg from the wound he'd just given her. About to get angry at this she opened her mouth only to be silenced by Sir Didymus,

"My lady please forgive us, but your mind had wandered, you've been standing there staring at the Mysteriques for over fifteen minutes, we've been calling your name but you weren't there. I'm sorry, we should have warned thee, the Mysteriques have a mesmerising quality, many who come down here have much trouble leaving. They're used by Jareth as a distraction technique."

"Like the ballroom…" Sarah whispered, slowly being sucked into the beauty of stalactites she now knew were called Mysteriques only to be brought back by another sharp nip from Devon.

"Excuse me fair maiden, but I do not understand your meaning." Sir Didymus asked

"The ballroom, when I came here before, Hoggle gave me the peach from Jareth, and I lost my memory and went to the ballroom. That was a distraction right, meant to stop me from completing the Labyrinth?"

"I fear you do not understand the true nature of the Labyrinth, you were never meant to fail, and no, the ballroom was no distraction, in fact Jareth created that especially for you, and he has never used it since."

"Now I'm really confused."

"Jareth has the answers my dear, you just have to be patient."

"I suppose, now lets move on before I start daydreaming again, those Mysteriques are so beautiful, it's hard to tear myself away, and my legs are going to be ripped to shreds by Devon if I stay here much longer."

With that they began walking down the slope towards the lagoon at the base of the cavern.


	14. Memories

**14 MEMORIES**

As Jareth sat on his throne watching Sarah enter the tunnel he felt a single tear slide down his cheek as the memories of the girl Sarah had been flooded his brain. When she'd been here last, she'd been a happy child. The pain of almost losing her brother had cast a shadow over her, but she was still happy.

When she'd left, he'd watched her, he'd seen her life and what it had done to her. It had twisted her, turned her love to hate, destroyed her happiness and he'd watched a darkness within her grow and begin to consume her, only kept at bay by the love she still held in her heart for her brother and father. The girl she had been was gone and it was unclear yet as to what kind of woman she would become.

Watching her attack had sent an almost physical pain through his heart, he loved her and yet had been helpless. Without being called he could not enter Aboveground, nor could he remove someone to the Underground. He was helpless, until something had happened that he'd never seen before, the rules got bent and he'd been able to take her. He'd saved her, he knew he had. Without him she would not have survived. Right? He didn't know, he only knew he hadn't been able to risk losing her. She was the reason he was alive, she'd beaten his Labyrinth like so many others, but she'd stolen his heart too, and he'd never been able to get it back.

Looking at her now, he remembered the sweet little girl in a beautiful silver ball dress and he felt a second tear slide down his cheek, only to angrily wipe it away, fearing the weakness these old human emotions brought with them. In his mind's eye he could still see her battered, bruised, violated body and he could barely focus on anything else. He'd been called twice since bringing Sarah here, but he'd answered neither summons, they would call again, they always did. For now all he knew was Sarah, and once again he focused his mind on the image of her walking down towards the lake only to be startled to find her looking directly at him. Quickly throwing the crystal at the wall, destroying it in the process, he immediately created another, this time watching her from behind, determined not to let the pain of memories distract him again.


	15. Mysteriques

**15 MYSTERIQUES**

Once they reached the lake, Sarah saw it had the same pearlescent sheen to it as the Mysteriques did, but unlike the Mysteriques, it didn't send her into a trance. Instead as she was staring into the water admiring its beauty she suddenly caught a flash of a face that caused such exquisite pain that she almost lost her balance. Stumbling slightly she managed to whisper "Jareth…" only to get a few sideways glances from her companions, but something in their faces told her they knew what she had seen.

Turning from one to another she finally landed on Hoggle but instead of asking stupid questions about Jareth, questions she now realised would only be answered by the Goblin King himself, she simply asked where they were going next.

"Ya see that opening over there?" He asked pointing towards the other side of the lake. She could just about make out a small door sized hole, and nodded in response, but the lake was enormous, it was at least a mile across and she couldn't see how wide it was as the ends extended into darkness. The Mysteriques, which were causing the main illumination were focussed over the centre of the lake, so it was impossible to see its outer rim.

"Well that's where we're going."

"Just how are we supposed to get over there? I'm not that good a swimmer, and I don't feel like having to walk all around this lake."

"Well yer wouldn't be able t' walk round it, it aint a lake, it's a river, a very slow river, but it's a river all right. And don't worry 'bout the swimming, that's what them's there for." He said, pointing up to the Mysteriques.

Not quite understanding his meaning she opened her mouth to ask him to clarify when she saw one of the Mysteriques begin to extend downwards, growing thinner as it did. It was only as it came within a few meters of her head she realised the tip of it was actually a face, well it had eyes anyway, and when it got closer she saw two holes on the very tip which could have been nose holes. Too stunned to speak she simply stared at it for a few seconds. She couldn't believe it wasn't a stalactite. Looking up she saw more of them begin to stretch down and the effect was amazing, suddenly they turned from being inanimate pieces of rock, to being smooth, supple, living creatures.

Looking back at the Mysterique whose face was hanging directly in front of hers she heard a tinkling laugh that seemed to come from nowhere. Glancing around she couldn't find the source of it until she looked back at the Mysterique and saw small wrinkle lines around its eyes, and indeed it did look as though it was smiling, even though it had no mouth. It was only as the laugh came again, followed by a quiet, almost childish voice that she realised the Mysterique was talking to her telepathically.

"_Forgive me dear, I fear I may have startled you, and you are right, I am communicating the way you humans refer to as telepathy. As you can see we have no mouths, it is our way of speaking, do not fear it, we are perfectly harmless."_

"No you must forgive me." Sarah eventually managed to say. "It was rude of me to stare. I've just never been spoken to like that, it stunned me for a minute."

"_As it does to most people who have not encountered it before. However it is not hard to do once you have mastered it, you can in fact communicate with us the same way if you wish."_

"Thank you, but I'd prefer to speak if that's okay. It still seems rather strange to me to be hearing someone's voice in my head. Most people would call me crazy." Sarah replied laughing slightly.

"_I understand dear. Do not apologise. Now for getting you across this river. Do not feel the need to hold on, I assure you I will have you in a tight grip. Just relax and enjoy the ride."_

With that the Mysterique wound herself around Sarah's waist and pulled her gently off the floor. Feeling slightly unsafe to begin with Sarah gripped hold of the Mysterique, only to feel rude for not trusting her so she let go and allowed herself to be carried slowly over the lake. Looking up she saw that the base of the Mysterique was slowly crawling over the roof of the cavern and she saw that Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Devon were being carried the same way by other Mysteriques. However Samael seemed to be in his element swimming through the river below so none of the Mysteriques bothered to try and carry him. Taking one more glance around Sarah settled more comfortably into the curve of the Mysterique and closed her eyes. She was tired suddenly. She had walked a long way, and she still wasn't feeling a hundred percent healthy, there was a slight tingling all over her body and she felt she could do with a few minutes rest. Just a few minutes…


	16. Visions in darkness

**Author's note: I apologise for this scene in advance if it upsets people, the subject of rape is never pleasant but I feel it is an important part in the story in explaining Sarah's pain and certain things she does later in the story. For those who are affected by things like this, please do not read this chapter, I do not wish to upset anyone, the story will still make sense without it. Feedback on this chapter would be much appreciated, as I'm still not sure about it. Thank you.**

**16 VISIONS IN DARKNESS**

_She could feel herself falling. Her heel got caught on the stairs and she tripped, banging her head as she landed, but she barely had time to register the pain before she was on her feet again running for her life. She hardly dared to glance back but as she reached the top of one flight of stairs and doubled back to go up the next flight she saw them only a few meters behind her. Two men, large, angry. Not giving herself time to think about the consequences of them catching her she sped off up the steps, desperate to get to her car before they reached her. She could see the door now just a few more steps. Her freedom seemed imminent. If she could get to her car she could escape, hell she'd run them over if she had to. Just a few more feet. Finally she reached the door, it was only as she crashed into it, banging her arm as she did so, that she remembered it was pull. She'd barely got her hand on the handle before she felt someone ripping it away, followed almost instantly by a heavy handed smack across the face. For a second all she could think of was how close she'd gotten to freedom and then she was forced up against the wall. Reflex's kicking in she lashed out at the attackers. She got in one punch at the first man's face before the other had her arms pinned up against the wall of the stair way. Using her feet she kicked that one in the balls only to be stunned by the first guys fist in her face, her stomach, his boot in her leg. Staggered by the immediate pain her legs lost their hold and she fell to the ground only to be hauled back up by her hair. The second man had now recovered from the blow to his groin and seconds later she felt her nose shatter followed by a few ribs cracking. Still struggling to escape she soon felt her arms raised above her head, whilst at the same time one of them restrained her legs. By this time she couldn't see due a gash on her forehead pouring blood into her eyes. Even so she never stopped trying to get free for a second, she could feel the blows raining down on her body, and still she fought, until a sudden movement on her trousers made her freeze. She felt the zipper being undone, the trousers being lowered. Instantly she went into a mad frenzy of movement in an attempt to break away from her captors, only to receive more heavy punches and even a few kicks in her ribs, her stomach. She felt her pants being pulled down and impossibly her movements increased in her panic. But the men were too strong, there were two of them, one of her. They were bigger, they were stronger, she was helpless, but she never stopped trying to escape. She never stopped moving. Never stopped fighting. She never gave up. Until she felt the hand on her thigh. As felt it begin to move higher she felt the first stirrings of despair, and then she felt her soul break as he destroyed her from the inside…_

She woke up screaming. The nightmare still fresh in her mind. She knew what had happened, and for the first time since waking up, she felt the pain of what they'd done. She felt violated, dirty, disgusted. She hated herself, hated the pain. She was consumed with grief and despair. Her soul was filled with a darkness she knew could never be erased. She longed for a release from the pain, anything to stop what they'd done to her. The anguish rolled over her causing her to burst into tears, but no amount of tears could purge the sorrow from her. She longed for a knife, a blade, anything to help her stop this, to end this now. She wanted it over, wanted it finished, forever. She had no will to live after what they'd done. They'd destroyed her, destroyed what was left of her heart, her soul, her will to live. There was nothing left, nothing strong enough to get her to overcome this pain. Yet slowly she felt a calmness steal over her. The tears stopped, the pain receded, and slowly she felt herself fall back into unconsciousness, the kind that doesn't come with nightmares, the kind that doesn't come with pain, the kind that is empty of everything. A release for the soul.


	17. Helpless Observation

**17 HELPLESS OBSERVATION**

As he poured the sleep spell through the crystal and over Sarah, Jareth once again felt a tear slide down his cheek. The pain had returned, for now there was nothing he could do. The link between her and the real world was growing stronger as her body began to heal. She was no longer near death, her body was slowly recovering. The first sign had been the long period between her last weak spell, the weakness that came from her heart failing above ground. Twice she'd died, twice they'd brought her back. A miracle of modern medicine, or a curse. He still didn't know which it was, which she'd view it as. All he knew is each time her heart had stopped beating, he'd watched her soul fade in his Labyrinth, and he'd died inside. But all that was over now. She was stable. She was nowhere near recovered though, not close to leaving him.

A coma. That was what the Aboveground medicine men had called it, brain dead. Was that true? Was her body really that far from recovery? Would she ever recover at all? Her soul was intact, it was gliding over the river of dreams right now, safely in the arms of a Mysterique. Maybe not the best choice of route in retrospect, but it was too late now. All he could do was keep her in a state of unconsciousness until she had passed it. As for her soul, he was torn over her fate. He was desperate to see her, desperate to hold her, but the quicker she got here, the quicker she would have to make her decision. He couldn't keep her here against her will, and he honestly didn't know what she wanted to do. Her decision wouldn't be easy, each option came with its own terrible pain, so what would she choose? He didn't know, and for a moment his soul was filled with such pain his tears increased, only for him to once again smash the crystal he was holding, this time in frustration.

For the moment he was helpless, but he would not act like a child, he would not shed worthless tears over a woman. Yet his heart would not forget her, and once again producing a crystal to view his love, his mouth was open before he had even fully realised the song. The pain, the love he felt, pouring out to a beautiful soft melody.

_When I look into your eyes, _

_I see something I don't recognise,_

_And I get this feeling, deep inside,_

_There is something in my heart,_

_That causes so much pain,_

_But I see that pain reflected in your eyes,_

_This cannot be in vain,_

_Tell me how you feel,_

_Set your own heart free,_

_Come to me in friendship,_

_I'll give you all you need,_

_For now that I stand here,_

_Looking down at you,_

_I realise, that all along,_

_I've been in love with you,_

_Please do not look away from me,_

_I cannot stand that rejection,_

_Please come to me, reveal you heart,_

_Please show me your affection,_

_Now as I take your hand in mine,_

_And look into your eyes,_

_I know I live for you, my love_

_I belong at your side._


	18. Tunnels

**18 TUNNELS**

When Sarah awoke the first thing she realised was that she was no longer held by a Mysterique. In fact she was lying on a cold stone floor. It was only as she stood up to look around that the terrible memories returned to her, but this time there was no pain. The grief, the anguish, of this she felt none. The invisible shield between her and the heartache had reappeared, leaving her almost numb, only a slight melancholy air remained about her. Puzzled by this, but no longer thinking to question it, she focused back on her present situation, taking a long look around her.

In front of her she could see the river they had just crossed, and looking up she saw the Mysteriques had returned to their original position, having carried her and her friends across the river. Silently Sarah thanked them for their help and soon received a silent message back.

"_You're welcome Sarah, it was a pleasure. And do not worry about what is to come, focus on now, live through now, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. What will be, will be, and no amount of fretting will change that. Enjoy the now; after all, it's all you'll ever have."_

With a slightly puzzled smile on her face Sarah turned her eyes to the ground to find her friends asleep on the floor around her. Confused but not really surprised by anything she found in the Labyrinth now she bent down over Sir Didymus who was laid almost at her feet and touched his shoulder in order to wake him. He awoke almost instantly, jumping to his feet with staff in hand shouting "How dare thee wake me, I'll fight thee to the death for such an insult!" It was just as he finished this outburst he managed to pull his hat from over his eyes and stared in shock at Sarah whose face showed the same expression. "Why my Lady, please forgive me, I did not know it was thee. I'm so sorry, had I known it was you I would never…"

"Sir Didymus, please don't worry about it. Sleep does strange things to people, I know it did to me. You're forgiven, now stop waving that sword at me, it's intimidating. Help me wake the others, will you?"

"Why of course fair maiden."

With that they woke up the rest of the friends, including Samael who it turns out had fallen asleep before he'd even gotten halfway across and had been carried the rest of the way by a Mysterique. Puzzled at the bizarre sleep epidemic, they nevertheless turned to Hoggle to find out where they were to go next.

"That way." He said, pointing towards the wall that stood behind them. In the faint light Sarah could just make out a large circular hole in the wall. They walked towards it and as they did she saw tracks in the floor that were the same as the ones the cleaner had moved along.

"Hoggle are these by any chance the tunnels that we were chased through by the cleaner last time I was here?"

"Yep, they is. But those are a long way off. The tunnels go right the way under the whole Labyrinth, ya could run the entire Labyrinth in them, but ya'd get lost."

"Lost? You mean these are the tunnels you got lost in when you were supposed to be coming to meet me?" A sheepish nod from Hoggle confirmed this. "Then why on Earth are we going to try and go through them?"

"Cos we're not on Earth, and it's the quickest route without 'aving t' climb that cliff. I knows the path we're going t' take, done it a hundred times. Course it changes every time, but it's usually easy enough."

"That does not inspire confidence." Sarah said, frowning, but indicated Hoggle should lead on anyway.

Hoggle shook his head at her and head off down the tunnel. As soon as they got into the tunnel it became pitch black, almost as if the doorway behind them had been blocked, allowing no light in at all. Sarah put her hands out, one to the side and one in front of her, feeling her way in the dark. Nevertheless it was only a few seconds later she heard a sharp yelp, an "I say!", a grunt of pain and almost instantly she herself fell over a pile of bodies that had suddenly appeared in front of her, consisting of Hoggle who had fallen over Devon, knocking Sir Didymus off his back. Extracting herself from the group Sarah began giggling at the absurdity of the situation. They were trying to navigate their way through a maze of tunnels that changed constantly and they were doing it in the dark. It was impossible.

"Hoggle we can't do this without light, we're just going to get lost."

"Yeah I know. It wasn't this dark before, the tunnels change, everything about them changes. But we 'av t' go on now, the way back will have already changed."

"Well then have you got a candle or something, any light source?"

"Ooh, ooh, I have, I have." Samael answered excitedly from behind her, and a second later a bright light filled the tunnel. Blinded by the initial brightness of it Sarah closed her eyes and opened them a few seconds later to see Samael's tail glowing brightly. Amazed, all Sarah could do was stare. "How do you do that?" she finally managed to ask.

"We all can. The underwater goblins, that is."

"Well thank you very much Samael, that'll be a great help. Why don't you go up front with Hoggle and help guide us."

"Really? I could do that?"

"Of course."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you." He said before swimming off ahead of the group, urging Hoggle on with the importance of his new assignment as he called it. It made Sarah smile to watch his excitement at being useful. He reminded her of a child, but this made her think of Toby and for a while she became saddened. She still had no idea what was going on Aboveground, what he was going through. So once again she was drawn into a web of unanswerable questions and this time there was no distractions from her thoughts.


	19. Miracles in the dark

**19 MIRACLES IN THE DARK**

Sarah wasn't sure how long they walked. It seemed like hours as she tormented herself with the how's and why's. Many a time it seemed as though they'd doubled back on themselves and soon she'd lost any sense of direction, hoping against hope that Hoggle really did know where he was going. She could feel a slight tug of fear on her heart at the thought that if he did not, they were hopelessly lost. They might never find a way out, and once again she was without food, and had been for several hours. Strange that she craved food when she had so much else on her mind, but there was no chance of finding food anywhere in here, the place was desolate. It consisted of circular stone walls, covered in places by slimy moss and lichen. How it grew here she had no idea as there was no light, but grow it did and at times made the going quite hard. It was as she slipped on a large chunk of wet moss, barely managing to keep her balance, that her stomach gave forth a mighty growl.

"Yes Sarah, I must admit I too am hungry."

At that Sarah did actually fall, due to the shock she felt at hearing Devon speak. She'd never heard him speak and although she never doubted for a second that he was an intelligent creature, the various looks she'd seen on his face told her that much, she had never expected him to actually speak to her. As she felt her feet go out from under her, her arms lashed out automatically in an attempt to find something to grab on to, and that's when she had her second shock as left hand closed around a sturdy branch. Steadying herself on it she stood up again and looked up to find herself staring at an apple tree. Her earlier comment of nothing in the Labyrinth surprising her anymore flew into her head and she realised how naïve she really was. Of course it surprised her, it surprised her at every turn. Everything she saw was a shock to her system, this world was so different to her own, how could she help but be surprised. And now she was staring at an enormous apple tree.

The trunk itself must have been almost a meter in diameter, taking up more than half of the tunnel. The branch she had grabbed hold of, and most of the others as well, was thicker than her arm. Its branches extended up and over the roof, going on into the distance until they were no longer visible. The apples themselves seemed larger than normal apples, at least half the size again of what she was used to. It was only as she looked closer at them that she realised they were Golden Delicious and gave a quiet laugh. They were her favourite apple, hell they were the only apples she actually liked and here was an entire tree of them. She looked down at Hoggle and Samael's faces and the confusion on them showed the tree had not been there moments before when they had passed, and so Sarah's suspicions were confirmed. It was a gift from Jareth. She wasn't sure how she knew this, she just did, and it gave her hope. Hope that he was actually watching over her, that he'd always been watching over her and that he cared for her, as she cared for him.

As she looked around at her friends, the looks on their faces told her she had spoken aloud. Blushing furiously she reached for an apple. For a fleeting moment as she plucked it from the tree she worried these may have a spell on them like the peach, but she quickly dismissed the thought from her mind. Why would Jareth do that? What advantage would it give him? She wasn't running the Labyrinth, there was no point bespelling the apples, so quickly she bit into the one in her hand and was instantly delighted by the juiciness of it. She'd barely swallowed the first bite when she felt a familiar dizziness and disorientation. Her legs became weak and once more she grabbed onto the tree for support before her legs finally gave way and she collapsed. Looking up she could see Hoggle's worried face seemingly floating in front of her, his mouth moving, his words unrecognisable to her ears. A blurred language of which she could discern no meaning. Slowly the darkness descended on her until she passed into unconsciousness.


	20. Anger

**20 ANGER**

"How dare she! Insolent little child!" Jareth shouted, jumping up from his chair and kicking the nearest goblin across the room. "How dare she presume that was a gift, that I've been watching her? How dare she assume that I would not have put a spell on it? What does she think, that I've grown weak? That I have no power over her as she so impertinently stated last time she was here. Does she no longer fear me that she would take an apple from a tree that appears the second she voices her hunger? Well she's wrong. Put a spell on her, I'll bloody kill her!"

"No you won't."

Hearing the quiet, calm voice from behind him the Goblin King stopped his ranting and turned to face beautiful Fae woman that had materialised in his throne.

"You'll not kill her, you'll not hurt her, isn't that the reason you brought her here? Heck, all you've done is put her to sleep out of spite because you thought she had assumed you had gone soft. You haven't transported her anywhere, you haven't done anything to her. She's lying in the floor of that tunnel asleep whilst her friends fuss about her wondering what you're up to this time. Honestly Jareth, you're getting very sloppy."

"I'm not getting sloppy at all." He retorted, sticking his bottom lip out like the child he always became in her presence. "But I cannot have her thinking I am weak!"

"Don't you see, you silly man, she doesn't think you weak at all. Did you not see the smile on her face, feel the happiness in her heart at the thought that it was a gift from you? Can you not see what's in front of your face?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Blind as always aren't we. Well I'm not telling you what resides in her heart, neither will I tell you what resides in yours, you would only deny it. But you must face up to it eventually, and you must accept it, or you will lose her. Again. And this time there will be no return. If you mess this up this time, there will be no second chance, it will be the end. Think on what I say, and calm yourself."

With that she disappeared as gracefully as she did everything in her life, slowly fading in a glittering light, her eyes being the last thing to go, leaving Jareth alone to muse over what she had said. In his heart he knew what she meant, but his head refused to believe it, he refused to get his hopes up. He'd been hurt too badly before, he couldn't risk it again, yet even as he thought this he knew it was a lie. He knew he loved her, and he knew he faced the fact that she did not love him, that he might once again lose her. And he knew that would destroy him. Sinking down into the throne so recently vacated by the only person who could ever calm his rages, he turned his mind once again back to Sarah and what he should do now he'd gone and put her to sleep. He wanted to do what he'd done before, erase her memory, transport her to a ballroom, distract her, but he knew he couldn't. She'd beaten him last time, she'd do it again. Any tricks her played on her would backfire, spells would only create animosity in her towards him. No, he had to wake her up, but he'd be damned if he let her wander through the tunnels for hours. She desired her final friend, so she would have him. Waving his hand over the crystal he transported her and her friends to the bog of stench, a small smile playing on his lips as he imagined her reaction upon awakening.


	21. Changes

**21 CHANGES**

Sarah awoke slowly, groggily, not quite sure what was going on, but as she opened her eyes her memory gradually returned. She was soon on her feet, looking around and trying to take stock of the situation. The sight that met her eyes was the last thing she could ever have expected. In front of her was a lake, as beautiful as the one from inside the cavern, but in a different way. The water the most gorgeous blue she'd ever seen. It sparkled in the sun and Sarah caught glimpses of greens and red reflected on its surface. Looking up she saw branches of a tree hanging over her head and over the water, its leaves large and glossy with the largest red flowers she'd ever seen in her life. Reaching up she plucked one from the branch and was amazed at the feel of it in her hand. It felt like pure silk, yet it seemed softer and was the colour of blood. Raising her head she looked around the edge of the pool to see a multitude of bushes and plants all bearing the most luscious flowers and leaves imaginable, it seemed an Eden. As she looked to her side she saw her friends, old and new, looking at her with secret smiles on their faces that she could not interpret. Looking around again she noticed the tree behind her that held the branches hung over her head and it was at that moment she realised where she was.

Stunned, she dropped the red flower she still held in her hands. This was the bog of stench? How could that be? This place was perfect, a paradise. As she looked closer at the flowers she now realised surrounded her feet, she could see tiny butterflies and even hummingbirds fluttering in and around them. Looking back at her friends she asked "How is this possible?"

"Well dear Lady, after your departure the King decided the Bog of Stench was a needless pimple on the landscape of the Labyrinth. He turned more to the places of beauty, of light. He removed the Bog and gave this up to an Underground creature to care for, to turn into the garden you see before you."

"It's beautiful, I can't believe this is the same place. Who did this?"

"Don't ya remember, I did tell ya?" Replied Hoggle.

Confused, Sarah could only stare at him as she searched her memory for the answer. It was at this point she heard a sound she hadn't heard in years and the smile was on her face before she could even turn around?

"Sawah friend?"

"Ludo!" she cried, running into his arms. "Of course we're friends, we're always friends. Oh I missed you."

"Why leave?"

"I'm sorry Ludo, that was wrong of me, please forgive me. I never forgot you, never could. You're my friend Ludo, and I never want to lose you again!"

"Sawah, friend!"

"Always." She replied quietly, squeezing him all the tighter. That was something she'd missed so much in the years she'd had no contact with him, his hugs. They always brought such comfort, like a huge friendly teddy bear. She felt like a child once again, safe in his arms. She was ready for anything now, even Jareth.

Extracting herself from Ludo's arms she turned around and once again took in the view around her. As she looked towards the bridge that had almost tumbled her into the bog of stench she was once again awed by the sight that met her eyes. Instead of the remains of a broken old stone bridge, she was met with a beautiful ornate white metal bridge. The sides of the bridge were made out of metal that had been bent into Celtic shapes reminding her of one of her favourite necklaces, another hint that Jareth had been watching her, that he knew her, knew her tastes. As she walked up to the bridge she noticed that the metal had words carved into it in a flowing gothic script. She began to read it, whispering it out loud, though she did not know why.

"_The sun was scorched, it burnt itself out,_

_The sky turned black, no more life…"_

She stopped, shocked to the core by what she was seeing.

"Please, continue fair lady." She heard Didymus say and looking down she saw a curiosity in his eyes, and felt in herself a desire to carry on.

"_The pain grew thick, choked with fear,_

_No more laughter, sea of tears,_

_The blood ran free, the cuts were deep,_

_Nothing to heal them, no reason to sleep,_

_River of life, flow back to the sea,_

_Washed free of the pain, full of relief,_

_No way to return, no need, no desire,_

_No more hell, no more fire,_

_Breathing ceases, heart slows its beat,_

_Only then can we find peace."_

For a while there was silence, as the others absorbed her words and as she tried to get her head around what she had just read. That was her poem. She'd written it only a month ago. As she looked back at the bridge she saw the whole of it was covered in her poems, carved into the metal sides, the wooden floor. Now she knew he'd been watching her, and not just once in a while. He had her entire collection of poems written on this bridge from what she could see, three years of pain carved before her. He knew her most intimate thoughts, whether he realised it or not, he knew her better than anyone. She'd never shown her poetry to anyone before, they were an expression of herself, the real Sarah, not the face she showed to the world. Her family meant too much to her for them to realise what she really felt inside, the turmoil that was ripping apart her heart. They had enough problems without her adding to them. As for her friends, she didn't have any. Her school friends had all drifted away, gone to college, university, got full time jobs, all of them had new friends now. Her work colleagues, they were nothing to her, they chatted on breaks, but that was it, and the people she knew from various clubs, well, how well did you know someone you met in a club? She was alone, in every sense. All she had was Toby, and he was struggling growing up with an alcoholic father and a mother who showed him very little affection, he didn't need to know her problems. He was too young anyway. So there was no one who knew her, no one she could talk to.

Yet now she realised there was someone who knew her, someone who'd seen inside her soul when he'd read the words she wrote. Did he understand them? Did he understand her? She didn't know, but in her heart she prayed, prayed he had seen the meaning in her words, that he would understand, not shun her. Yet the thought alarmed her, what if he didn't understand. What if he'd put them here to taunt her? There were no answers and her thoughts were interrupted by Sir Didymus finally finding his voice.

"Well I must say, that was beautiful, yet dark. So deep, but where did the words come from? That bridge has never had anything on it as long as it's been there. Before you arrived, it was clear. Well it is a mystery."

And with that he and Devon went over the bridge followed by the rest of the bunch, leaving Sarah to follow, thinking of what this meant. Why had Jareth only just put them there? What was it supposed to mean?


	22. Visitors

**22 VISITORS**

Once again the grief flowed through him as he heard Sarah speak the words he'd just placed onto the bridge. The sorrow in the words still struck him as hard as they had ever since he'd first read them. He'd watched her write that very poem, crying all the while. He'd felt her pain, and then watched as she'd hidden the paper underneath her mattress. The next time she'd left her room, he'd transported a Goblin there to steal it and the rest of them. Once he had them in his hands he'd copied them in a crystal before sending the Goblin to return them. He'd spent hours upon hours reading them all. Pouring over her words, seeing their literal meaning then looking deeper, feeling the pain beneath them all. His mind had devoured them, committing them to memory. He still wasn't sure why he'd put them on the bridge. What was he trying to tell her? That he cared? That he knew her and still loved her? He wasn't sure, but it was done now, and once again she was back on the journey towards the castle. Towards him.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Hearing the words he turned and saw the lady that had raised him as her own, sat in his throne once again.

"Those were the girls most secret thoughts, meant for her and her alone. She never meant for anyone to see them, to see that deep into her. It was wrong of you to read them at all, but to then put them on the bridge in front of all her friends. How is she going to feel knowing you've been spying on her for all these years?"

"And what do you know? You come in here, not knowing her, not knowing why she's here, who she even is, and you make cryptic statements about her and now chastise me about my treatment of her. What makes you qualified to make those statements?"

"Because I'm your mother and I know you…"

"Mother? You were no mother, you raised me, but more than that? You trained me to be the Goblin King and nothing more. You never wanted a son, only an heir. Now go back to your tea parties and your high society and leave me to my life. Stop making judgments on everything I do, especially this."

"All right, I'll leave you, if only to stop us both saying things we regret, it always was our weakness. But take my word for this, if you try to get too close you'll push her away. You know how hard the decision she's going to have to make will be, if you want a chance, then let her come to you on her own terms."

Once again Jareth was left alone to brood over what was to come, and as much as he hated to admit she might have been right, he was worried he'd gone too far. Creating another crystal he gazed into it and prayed he wouldn't see anger in Sarah's eyes.


	23. Reality's alternative

**23 Reality's alternatives**

As Sarah reached the far side of the bridge she couldn't help taking one last look back at it, at the words carved into it and as she did so she saw them disappear, within seconds the wood was smooth, seamless, there was no trace there'd ever been anything there. Bewildered once more she began to turn back around and at that point she felt a shock of pain flow through her entire body. She collapsed to the floor, unable to support herself with the pain invading her flesh. But this was different to the times before. Then the pain had been focused around her chest, it was a deep agonising pure pain. This pain was all over her body, worse in some parts than others, and it was a different type of pain, more raw, less crushing, but agonising none the less. As she opened her eyes she realised she was staring into the eyes of someone she knew, someone she loved, the person she was closest to in the whole world. Toby. For a second she saw him, for a second she registered the pure pain in his eyes, and felt it tug at her heart. And then it was gone.

When she awoke she lay in Ludo's arms and could feel herself being carried. As she opened her eyes she felt a slight residual pain covering her body, an ache that wouldn't quite seem to quit. Slowly lifting her head she felt Ludo stop moving as he realised she was conscious once again.

"Sawah awake."

"Yes Ludo, I'm awake, wish I wasn't though, I've got an awful headache."

"Bang head?"

"No, well yes, I suppose, I don't know. I'll be okay, can you put me down please."

"Sawah down."

"Thank you Ludo."

"My lady, thank goodness thou art awake. We were extremely worried."

"What were wrong? You okay now?" This last from Hoggle, and the look on all their faces made Sarah smile despite the throbbing that had taken up residence inside her head. They cared, they truly cared. But she was too worried over her vision to really be happy. Why had she seen Toby? What had she really seen? What the hell was going on?

Frustrated but realising that her friends were still worried she reassured them she was fine, just a little fainting spell, and with that they continued, although where they were, Sarah had no idea. They'd left what used to be the bog of stench a while ago it seemed, and she'd never been in this part of the Labyrinth before. On either side of her was a mesh wire fence. From a distance it looked like your normal run of the mill fence, but as Sarah peered a little closer she realised the wire was in fact glittering in the weak sunlight that penetrated the thick black clouds gathered overhead. As she looked closer at the wire she realised it wasn't wire, and upon touching it she discovered it was a spider's web. Instantly she recoiled, the foolish fear of spiders she'd had as a child coming to the fore. Looking down she realised she was on another bridge, she could see through the wooden slats of the floor that they were walking over a huge cavern, so huge she couldn't see the bottom. As far as she could see the slopes were covered in bushes and trees, but no grass. The ground she could see between the foliage seemed to be entirely bare rock or hard, cracked mud. How anything grew there she had no idea, but grow it did. As she tripped slightly on one of the boards she was saved from having to touch the webbed sides of the bridge only because it was so far away. The bridge itself was at least 3 meters wide and seemed to extend forever in either direction.

"Where are we?" She asked in confusion.

"The chasm of seeing!" Samael answered excitedly.

"What does that mean?"

"I, erm, I, I, I don't know." He replied looking decidedly dejected at not being able to answer. Smiling tenderly Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder to let him know it was okay. It really was like dealing with a child, but in a good way. He had the pure excitement of childhood, and a pleasantness that would take a lot to dispel, he was truly a joy to be around and Sarah was glad he'd been able to join the group.

As they continued to walk on Sarah couldn't help but think about Toby, she'd seen him but didn't know why. Had he seen her? The pain in his eyes suggested he had, but if so, where was she, what had he seen? The throbbing in her head intensified and she was forced to close her eyes for a while only to open them almost instantly as she saw her father. He was hunched over in a small plastic chair. His eyes were closed and he was asleep, or passed out from drink, she couldn't tell. What was obvious was his unkempt state, his hair was a mess, he obviously hadn't shaved in days. His clothes were rumpled and there were a couple of stains on his shirt that looked like soup or something along those lines. Shocked by her vision, but curious as to what it could mean, she closed her eyes warily and once more she saw her father in the same position. She watched as a tear slowly slid down his cheek and then what she was seeing changed. She saw her father again, but this time he was at home, sat on their sofa laughing. He was obviously sober and he looked truly happy, his eyes sparkled and what she was seeing caused a lump in her throat. It had been so long since she had seen him like that, happy, sober, at peace with the world. She saw Toby, looking older, sat next to him, with a huge smile on his face. The whole scene was pleasant, light, joyful and against her will she felt a tear squeezed from her closed eyes. How many times had she seen this in her mind, wished for it to replace her reality. It had been years since happiness had truly filled their house. She had longed for this with her whole soul, but there was something different about this scene than what she had dreamed about hundreds of times, it seemed real almost. It was distorted, slightly vague, but it seemed so real, like it could really happen. Both Toby and her father looked older, not old, but certainly not the age they were now.

As she pondered the meaning of what she was seeing, her mind was suddenly catapulted into another direction. The living room disappeared and she was no longer looking at her father, but at her brother. He was wearing a black suit, tears were streaming down his face, but his tears were silent, his face a mask that covered the agony she could see in his eyes. She could see the pain he was in, yet couldn't keep her eyes there, her sight was drawn to the ground at his feet, and the hole that was there, at the coffin six feet below the surface, the single white rose lying on the top of it. She couldn't bear to look up, she didn't want to know what was written on the headstone, she couldn't face it, because she knew in her heart what it said. Yet her gaze was drawn upwards despite her will, she barely glanced at her brothers hand which held another hand, hardly even thought about who that second hand belonged to, all she could do was stare at the name carved into the stone set at the head of the grave. Her father's name.

Once more her eyes flew open with shock. Her legs gave way and she crashed to her knees on the bridge, but this bridge wasn't as stable as the other. The force of her collapse sent the bridge swaying enough for Sarah to be thrown sideways as her mind was focussed on what she had seen. The spider's web that had seemed so sturdy gave way under her weight and neither her nor her friends had time to react before her body fell from the bridge down into the seemingly bottomless cavern. As the reality of the situation hit her Sarah began to panic, she knew she was going to die, but her life did not flash before her eyes, instead all she could think of was how she had failed her family, she had not been there for them enough before, and now her actions had led to her death. She closed her eyes in order to avoid having to watch the ground coming towards her. She was falling fast, could feel the wind whipping past her, every now and then a stray branch would catch her causing an endless amount of small scratches, but she was aware of none of this. As soon as she closed her eyes her mind was once again filled with the vision of her father and brother laughing together, the mirth obvious to see and so she fell to her death with a smile on her face.


	24. The beginning of the end

**24 The Beginning of the end**

As he watched her fall Jareth saw all his hopes die with her. He couldn't let her go, not after all he'd done to make sure she survived this long. In his heart he knew it was time for her to make her decision, and that meant it was time for them to meet, for the first time in five years. He wasn't sure he was ready, and he was pretty certain she wasn't, but the time had come. With a heavy heart and a feeling of dread over what was to come, he sent the crystal out of his window and within seconds Sarah and all her friends were standing at the foot of the steps to the castle itself. From then on, all he could do was wait for her to come to him.

**X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x **

Sarah opened her eyes with a jolt as she realised she was once again on her feet, the sickening fall had ended, but not how she had expected. Instead as she took in her surroundings, she found herself standing in front of the castle at the centre of the labyrinth. She had reached her destination, her journey was over. Yet she knew that wasn't true, she'd reached the castle, but her journey wasn't finished yet. The last and hardest part lay beyond the doors that stood in front of her. Both doors were open, a fact which she took as a good sign. It had to have been Jareth that had brought her there, he had to want her to go in, yet although she knew she had to do it, her body refused to move. She glanced around and saw her friends staring around them, and at her, in shock. Clearly the last few moments had been as unexpected for them as for her. It was Sir Didymus that recovered his wits first.

"Why my lady, art thou all right?"

"Yes Didymus, I'm fine." _I think_, she whispered under her breath, once again looking back towards the castle.

"I guess ya gotta go in then?" said Hoggle, and when Sarah turned to look at him she saw tears glistening in his eyes. "Then I guess we gotta leave, ya gotta do this alone."

A lump formed in Sarah's throat and she sank to her knees in front of Hoggle, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Yes Hoggle, I have got to do this by myself, but I'm never alone, I've always got you with me, all of you" She said, looking around at the group. "You're my only real friends, and as long as that's true, you'll always be with me. I don't know what's going to happen when I walk in this castle, but I know I'll never lose you. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, I love you all…" At that point the tears began to flow from her eyes and she couldn't continue. Instead she hugged all her friends in turn, not sure whether she was ever going to see them again, and turned back to the castle.

As she began to walk up the steps towards the door, she thought about what lay beyond, about who she was walking towards, about what was going to happen to her when she walked through those doors.

_Goblin king, goblin king, wherever you may be, you took this heart of mine far away from me,_

_Locked in your castle, kept by your side, no love for another, desire to be your bride,_

_Chained by the memories, of sweetness in your eyes, I remember your kindness, along with the lies,_

_Torn between hate and love eternal, fear what I may find when I am finally with you,_

_Need you by my side, need your touch, your caress, but fear your hearts rejection, crave your tenderness,_

_Scared to find the answers, my heart requires your love, you see what I cannot, you watched from high above,_

_Now I know not where my path leads, except it ends with you, but good or bad I need to know, or I cannot continue,_

_My return to life cost me my heart, I can't go through that again, unless you are there by my side, I have no reason to return,_

_So give me your answer, tell me no lies, do you love me, will I be denied,_

_I know not these answers, and fear them as well, so as I wander these paths, my heart won't be still,_

_I hurry at leisure; I dawdle with haste, unsure of my feet, forgetting the chase,_

_Think only of you, desire your embrace, know that I love you, as I relive the past,_

_The adventure is ended, the finale draws near, my mind knows confusion, I still know the fear,_

_But that time has come, to put fear aside, as once more I reach you, to find the answers, there, in your eyes._


	25. Decisions

**25 Decisions **

As she walked through the door her feet were guided down the corridor, taking unfamiliar turns, but always she knew she was going in the right direction, whether through forgotten memories or Jareth's help she didn't know. It didn't matter, within seconds she stood before a large archway, she knew that all she had to do was step through it and turn to the left and she'd see him sitting on the throne, a throne she'd only ever seen empty before. But this time it wouldn't be empty, this time there would be no Escher room, no chase to save Toby, Toby was fine, it was her who needed saving. Would Jareth be the one to save her? She was about to find out. Taking a deep breath she walked into the throne room, and once again, after all these years, she was face to face with the Goblin King.

At first his appearance shocked her, the outfit he wore was similar to that he had worn in her previous visit, grey trousers, shirt, but the trousers were no longer skin tight, the shirt no longer covered in frills. His whole outfit had been toned down, less flamboyant, less pretentious. The hair had changed too, no longer did it tower above his head before flowing down his back like feathers. Instead it was sleek, straight, held back in a simple ponytail, showing off the sharp angles of his face. The eye make-up had been reduced to a single dark line, accentuating his unique eyes. The effect was devastating, at once all the love, all the longing, everything Sarah had tried to repress for the past five years came to the fore, the power of her emotions was almost overwhelming and she stumbled with the force of it, only to gain her ground a second later, standing tall. She would not let him do this to her. Whatever his reason for bringing her here, she would not cower before him, she would not appear weak. Her will was as strong as his and it was time to prove it. So once more she stepped forward, towards the throne.

"Hello Sarah."

"Jareth…" Sarah whispered. Despite her earlier resolve, she was rendered almost speechless by the sound of his voice, by finally being face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams for years.

"Jareth? You've gotten bold in your years. What happened to the quaking little girl who never spoke my name for fear of what it may invoke?"

"She grew up."

"Yes she did." He said, standing up and slowly circling her, taking in her new bold, mature form. For the first time he noticed just how much Sarah had grown up in the few years since he'd last seen her face to face. The girl he'd known back then, had challenged and tormented, was gone, and in her place was a fully-grown woman. A woman full of pain and suffering, cowering from a world destined to destroy her, a woman almost crushed by the cruelty she'd experienced, but a woman nonetheless.

"Yet regardless of that growth, you stand here before me once again, unsure and afraid. You may have grown up, but that little girl resides in you still."

"Whether that is true or not is not for me to say. As for my presence here, I am not the one responsible for that, and I would appreciate an explanation."

"You are right on one thing, it was me who brought you here, but I am not responsible for it. I had no other choice."

"No other choice? I don't understand."

"Which part was unclear?" He replied, a mocking smile on his face.

"I don't understand any of it!" She shouted, finally exasperated and no longer trying to engage in civil conversation. She knew he'd only lead her round in circles, never giving any answers, only tormenting her with hints and vague comments. She needed to know what was going on.

"I don't understand why I'm here, how I'm here. I don't understand what happened after I was… after I was attacked." As much as the pain was numbed, she couldn't force herself to say it, not yet. "I saw the hospital, I saw Toby, but how is that possible if I'm here?"

"You're not here, only your soul. Right now you're body's lying in a hospital bed, and yes, Toby is watching over you. He even saw your eyes open, the doctors put it down to a nervous twitch, but he'll never stop believing it was you. That for a second you came back."

"Came back? But how did I go back, how is my soul here, why is my body in hospital?"

"Think Sarah, you know what those men did to you. They beat you, they raped you, do you honestly think you could survive that?" Jareth's voice was beginning to rise now, not through anger, but through emotion. As she watched him speak she could see the tears begin to form behind his eyes, see him blink them away before speaking again. This time more softly. "If I had left you there, you would have died, by the time someone found you, you were already in a coma, a few more minutes and you wouldn't have survived. I couldn't leave you to die, so I brought your soul here, to give your body the time it needed to recover. After what you had been through, you didn't want to live, unconsciously you gave up, you willed your body to stop fighting, but without your soul, your body could endure the attack. You survived long enough to get to hospital, to be put on life support and even that almost wasn't enough. The weak spells you've been having, that was your body dying. Every time your heart stopped, your soul was almost wrenched out of here, but the doctors managed to bring you back. From what the doctors have said, your body's in a coma, and you've got an extremely slim chance of ever waking up."

As he finished speaking he looked into her eyes, she could see the passion behind his, see how much he longed for her, how much he cared. But the shock she felt overpowered any feelings she had towards him. So it was all true. She had been attacked, she was in hospital, her body at least. Yet her soul was here. For a while it was too much to get her head around, she couldn't comprehend the fact her body and soul were separate.

Almost as though he had read her mind Jareth began to speak. "Your body cannot live without your soul much longer. Eventually the link between the two will be broken, and you will die. I am sorry, but there is not much time, you have to make your decision now."

"My decision?" After all she had heard, all she had been through, her brain was having trouble keeping up.

"Yes, whether you want to stay here or return Aboveground."

"I don't understand, why do I have to make the decision now? Can't I just stay here for a while, let my body recover a bit more?"

"I'm afraid not. To remove your soul from your body goes against all the laws of nature, they cannot exist for long separated. On your last visit you were here 13 hours, this time has been much longer. The link grows weaker, soon it will snap and you will die."

Sarah tried to comprehend what he had just said, it had been important but she'd missed it. What was it?

"But then why do I have to make a decision, if I can't stay here what decision is there to make?" She looked into his eyes, and she saw the truth. "I have to die. To stay here I have to die."

"Yes."

"But even if I go back, I might not live."

"If your body can't repair itself… you can't come back. Your soul will move on, and you'll be lost forever."

The shock was finally too much for Sarah, her legs gave out and she sank to her knees as the tears began to well in her eyes. "Even if I do survive, the pain won't go away, you've held it back, numbed it, but it's there. I'll have to live with what they did, how can I do that, how can I live through that?" She felt his hand on her shoulder, but couldn't look up at him.

"Then stay…"

"How can I stay here, how can I just give up and die?" She was getting angry again, angry at the predicament he'd put her in, angry that he was making her choose between him and her family.

From the way she was sat she couldn't see the sadness in his eyes as he gazed at her, but she heard it in his voice as he replied.

"You're dead and you don't even know it yet. You think you live because you breathe and your heart beats, but there's nothing left. Your soul is dead, you're a shell, a shell that you numb because the only thing left inside is hate and despair. You live your life alone because to reveal your feelings is to bring this pain on another, pain that you would not wish on anyone, not even on the one that placed that pain in your own heart. You hide away from the world because the world does not understand you, nor you it. You mime your way through life, envying the normality that surrounds you, knowing you will never again achieve that sense of belonging. Yet after a time, you crave it no longer. For your heart forgets quicker than your mind, and soon all you're left with is memories of another life, as you sit alone, flicking through the photo album in your mind, trying to recall the feelings you see on your own face, slipping day by day into a world of your own making, a world created through despair, a world devoid of life, as you realise you died that night, and ever since then you've been living a lie. Is that the future you want?"

"Jareth, please don't…" Her voice was quiet, self-pitying, but he wouldn't stop, he had to make her see.

"I see the flame of your passion, unquenched by the torrents of pain that are drowning your soul. You feel yourself trapped, but your strength shines through brighter than the flame of your heartache. You fear your pain, because you see it as a weakness, but you do not realise the strength it has given you. You have survived the torment of a family ripped to pieces, whilst still being the sister Toby needed you to be. The only mistake you made was to forget about yourself, you treasured that pain, and in the end found comfort in it. You plastered a smile on your face to put peace in Toby's heart, but your own heart was not reached by his smiles. You feel love, but no joy, and it's slowly killing you"

"Stop it, just stop it! You think you know me? You've read my poetry, and I can't believe you did that, those words were my deepest feelings, they expressed my pain as best as I could, but that's not me. They're a reflection of me, a reflection of my pain, but that's not me, that's not all I am, and I didn't even realise that until now. Because there's a part of me that's still alive, a part of me that still feels, still loves, and now I'm torn. Because I love two people, in two worlds, and those worlds can never mesh. I look at you now, standing before me, a dream I've had a thousand times now made real, but I can't have it, I can't have you. Because in that other world, in the world I live in, the world I belong in, the world my body's in attached to so many machines keeping me alive right now, in that world sits my brother, watching over my body praying for me to return." Her voice faltered as she thought of Toby, but she forced herself to continue.

"Now you're asking me to make a choice, between you and my brother, being staying and going. If I stay I've got you, I become a queen and live in a castle in a world I've thought about every day since I was fifteen, but I'll have to live in a world without Toby, without my father. And if I go? I get them back, and maybe, just maybe, I'll get my father back to the way he was, I saw that, I saw him, in the future, happy, sober so maybe if I go back that'll come true, maybe not. Even if it does, I'll still have to live with what happened to me, I got a taste of that pain when I was asleep being carried by the Mysteriques, and I'm not sure I can stand it again, not forever, because that's how long the pain will last, and on top of that I lose you."

Sarah hesitated before continuing, but she knew it had to be said.

"I've loved you ever since the day you gave my brother back, I'm not stupid, I knew even back then that you were simply playing the game, obeying the rules, but you made those rules and you can break them. You didn't have to give Toby back, but you did, even though it meant you'd never see me again, you still gave him back. I realised then that I loved you and I've wished for this moment every day since then, prayed that one day you'd come back, that I'd get the chance to be with you. And now it's finally happened and I don't know what to do, what am I supposed to do? You're making me choose between my family and you, how can you do this? How can you ask me to stay, to give up Toby and dad? Why did you bring me here knowing you were going to do this, to give me everything I have dreamed about for the past five years, and then tell me that to have it I have to give up the two most important people in my life???"

"This is not how I intended our reunion to be, but the circumstances called for me to bring you here. I am not forcing you to choose between anything, your decision is your own. All I will say is this, the visions you saw on the bridge, of you father and your brother, they are the two possibilities for the future depending on what decision you make. One will happen if you stay, one if you go back."

"But which is which? How do I know what to choose?"

"You know the answer to that." Once again his voice was soft, his eyes full of pain. "You saw the visions, you were only in one of them. That is the future if you go back."

For a while Sarah couldn't remember the visions, couldn't remember being in either, then suddenly it came to her, with a clarity that caught her heart and ripped it apart. The hand she had seen clutching Toby at her father's funeral had been her own. If she went back, her father would die. His life would not change, he would have his daughter back, he would slowly drink himself to death. Yet if she stayed, if he lost his daughter, if his son needed him once again, he would turn himself around. Once again the vision of her father and Toby laughing together swam in front of her eyes, and she knew what she had to do.

She slowly turned to look up into Jareth's face, and for a few seconds was silent before she finally spoke.

"Send me back…"


	26. Goodbye

**26 Goodbye**

As she opened her eyes the first thing she registered was the agonising pain that shot through her body the instant she regained consciousness. For a while her mind could focus on nothing but that, she tensed her body against it, but that just increased the pain in intensity and so she forced herself to relax and waited with gritted teeth for it to subside to a bearable level.

She didn't know how long she lay there, her mind was consumed with the suffering of her body, she was vaguely aware of someone calling her name, but it was a while before she registered that she knew the voice. Taking a deep breath against the sharp pain that shot through her ribs with each breath, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into Toby's. Her instinct was to reach out and hug him but upon raising her arms only a few centimetres she decided against it and knew that him hugging her would cause the same intense torture to her entire body. For the first time she realised just how much her body had gone through, just how right Jareth had been. She wouldn't have survived this had he not taken her soul to the Labyrinth, and that was when it hit her, the memories, the agony of what those men had done to her, the violation, the torture, the misery.

Her grief consumed her for a second, her body recoiling against the burning that was now replacing the physical pain. The shame and mental anguish that was consuming her soul. She could still feel them, still feel what they'd done. She hated them, hated herself, she felt dirty, disgusted, worthless, but most of all she felt grief, a grief so strong that for a moment she had to close her eyes again, against the worry she could see in Toby's. Her own pain was too much right now, she couldn't handle his too. But she had to, she owed him that much. So slowly, very slowly, she opened her eyes once more, and this time took in her whole surroundings.

She saw a stark, clean hospital room, saw the machines surrounding the hard hospital bed she was laid on, felt the tubes coming from them into her body. The tubes and machines that had been keeping her alive until now. The room seemed too clean, too mechanised, too modern, it looked like what it was, a room full of alien machines that kept people alive whether they had a desire to live or not. That was the problem with society today, with doctors, they had a responsibility to their patients to keep them alive, but they never asked whether that patient wanted to live, they never even took that into consideration. The patient was just another body, not a person, not a soul, a body. She'd been a body for the men too… But she couldn't think of that, not now, first she had to talk to Toby.

Once again she slowly opened her eyes and this time she could truly focus on Toby's face, the concern she saw there made her want to break down and cry, but now was not the time.

"Sarah? Sarah? SARAH?."

She could hear the desperation in his voice, so steeling herself against the pain she knew would come with trying to speak, she said;

"Yes Toby, I'm awake."

She watched as the tears formed in his eyes, mirrored by those in her own. He threw himself down and hugged her and she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming from the agony that shot through her as he did so. Eventually he pulled away, the tears falling freely from his eyes now as he began to speak rapidly.

"You went to sleep and wouldn't wake up, and you were so hurt and that machine kept beeping and then the doctors wouldn't let me in and then they did and you were still asleep!" He'd pointed to the machine that monitored her heartbeat, at the moment it was silent, her heart rate steady, but she knew if she died it would beep continuously. That's what he meant, she'd died, and not just once. The weak spells, passing out, seeing the doctor, she'd died. Each time her body had died, her soul had weakened, and when she'd seen the doctor, for a second she must have been shocked back into her body when they brought her back. She'd died…

Realising Toby was still looking at her and crying she gritted her teeth and raised her right arm, the one without a pot on it, to his face, brushing his tears away with her fingers.

"It's okay Toby, I'm here."

"And you're not going away again, ever? Cos they said you might go away and not come back, that you might go to sleep forever. You're not going to sleep forever are you?"

This time she couldn't keep the tears back. As she looked into his sweet little face, with all the innocence of a seven year old showing through, the grief became too much. She knew what she was about to do would break his heart, and break her own in the process, but it was the right thing to do, it was the only way to save them all.

"I'm sorry Toby, I have to. My body's too weak, I need to rest. I'm going to a better place, one where I'll be happy." She saw his little face crumble, and so did her resolve. This was the hardest thing she'd ever done, she was having to say goodbye to her baby brother, forever. Steeling herself against the tears, her voice wavering regardless, she carried on. "I promise I'll never forget you, and I promise things will get better for you. Dad will get well again, but you've got to help him, he can't do it by himself. Karen needs your help too, she's got to change, you've got to make her realise that. I know you can do it, you can make things better. Love them both for me, just as I love you, tell them I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"But why Sarah, why do you have to go? You're awake, you're okay now. Why do you have to go?" The tears were flowing freely now, but Sarah barely noticed it, the grief inside her was too much, every part of her was telling her to stop, to wipe away his tears and tell him she was never going away, but she couldn't, she had to do this. Raising her arm once more she brought his head close to hers so she could kiss him on the forehead before beginning to speak once more.

"You know I love you Toby, I always have done, I always will. You're my baby brother and you'll always be in my heart. But it's time for me to move on. I love you Toby, never forget me."

As she looked into his eyes for the last time, as she said her final goodbye, she felt a peace flow through her. For all the pain, for all that her heart was breaking, she knew it was the right thing to do. She closed her eyes, and for the first time in years, she smiled, a smile that truly reached her heart.

Through his tears Toby vaguely heard the machine beside him begin to beep, and he knew his sister was gone...


	27. A new beginning

**27 A new beginning**

Sarah woke up to find herself in Jareth's arms. For a second she could feel the beginning of a smile but it was wiped from her face instantly by Jareth screaming at her.

"What the hell was that?! You tell me to send you back and then next thing you're dying on me. You made your choice Sarah, you wanted to go back, I granted your wish and how do you repay me? By dying within three minutes of waking up. Do not think me a fool Sarah I will not stand by while you decide where you want to live! This time it's final, your bodies gone, you're no longer human, you're Fae, immortal. I don't know what you had planned back there but it's over! From this moment on you live here."

By this time he had propped Sarah up against a wall and begun pacing while he ranted. For a while Sarah just sat there watching him, wondering whether she'd done the right thing, she'd done what her heart had told her was right, but she'd been wrong in the past, what if she was wrong again. She suddenly felt a great hole open up inside her, she'd lost her brother, her father, everything she'd ever known in her life, given them up for the man she loved, and as she watched him pacing, she suddenly wasn't so sure he loved her back. At that point it all became too much, all the pain, all the grief, everything that had been building up over the years, everything that had happened since her attack, all she had gone through with Toby, it was all too much. Once more the tears began to flow down her face and it was only as she felt a pair of arms go around her shoulders she realised Jareth had stopped pacing. She looked up into his face as he pulled her towards him, and as she looking into his eyes, at the concern in them, as she felt his arms trembling as he held her, she realised she'd done the right thing. She loved him, he loved her, her father would get better and Toby would be fine. She felt a warmth fill her and taking a deep breath began to speak.

"Do you remember, long ago, the first time I was here, you told me you couldn't live within me? Well I can't live without you. When I told Hoggle I needed him, I needed all of the Underground, that included you too. Maybe even you most of all. But you never came, no matter how many times I called my friends, no matter how many times I thought about you, wished you were there with me, needed you so much it hurt, loved you… You never came, never." Sarah broke off as a tear ran down her cheek.

She looked at the ground, and then closed her eyes, afraid she would begin crying hysterically if she had to look into his eyes any longer. Instead she felt a soft-gloved finger move under her chin and lift her face to look at him. The concerned look on his face almost broke her heart, but it gave her the strength to continue.

"I wanted you to come so much, I missed you everyday. You never even spoke to me after I left, and I felt like an idiot, you never even hinted you liked me, you were nothing but evil to me when I was here. But when we were in the ballroom, and in the Escher room, there was something there, something other than hate. I love you, but you never came to me, and it killed me. I figured that if I stopped contacting my friends, if I immersed myself in the human world, maybe I'd forget you, maybe this pain would go away, but it never did. It got stronger. I love you Jareth, I love you and I don't think I can go on without you. You might not be able to live within me, but maybe you can just live with me…"

Silence filled the air, a silence filled with possibilities, with visions of the future, with happiness, with love and as Jareth leaned down to kiss her for the first time, she felt happy, truly happy. This was it, this was life, this was love, and they had all eternity to enjoy it. Together.

Author's note: Thank you so much for all the reviews you gave me. I hope you enjoyed the ending. Thank you once again for taking the time to read this.


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